Tatooine
by Leela Starsky
Summary: This story follows directly on from Family Matters. Luke and Leia set out to rescue Han.
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: In my version of this galaxy far, far away, the Galactic Standard Year consists of ten calendar months, each containing 40 days, or four ten-day weeks. A Galactic Standard Day consists of twenty, fifty minute hours. But this is usually deferred in preference to local time.

 _Inspirational music:_

TATOOINE

 **By Leela Starsky.**

CHAPTER ONE.

Leia Organa had never been to Tatooine. Luke had described his home planet to her several times in the past and she had assumed his recollections to be coloured with negativity because of his unhappy experiences there. In the same way, she realised she now remembered Alderaan a little too glowingly because she'd been so fond of it. But, as she walked down the _Falcon's_ ramp into the dry, baking heat, Leia came to the swift conclusion that Luke's previous descriptions of his homeworld had been generous.

Tatooine was horrible.

She was wearing simple clothes; shirt, trousers, practical boots. Yet, despite the looseness of the fabrics, felt herself break out in a sheen of perspiration before she'd even reached the bottom of the ramp. And, a moment later, she was being pestered by flies. She swatted them away, irritably, and looked at her brother. Luke was wearing loose clothes as well and, had the dark cloak he was wearing over them not been such a refined weave, he would have blended perfectly with the natives.

Their departure from the Alliance had been surreptitious and unannounced. Largely thanks to the unpredictability of the _Millennium Falcon'_ s regular captain, who would often take his ship out whenever he felt like it. By the time it was realised that the _Millennium Falcon_ was doing something it was not supposed to be doing, they were out of the hangar and in hyperspace a few minutes later.

They had landed the _Falcon_ in Mos Eisley under the name _Sunfighter Franchise_ , but both suspected it would soon be recognised. Leia just hoped it wouldn't bring them too much trouble. Unconsciously she ran her hand over the blaster she was wearing on her hip, and was comforted by it.

She'd insisted Luke wear the lightsabre that had belonged to Han's mother, and was surprised at how irritable it made her feel watching him attach it to his belt. Had she come to think of it as her unborn daughter's property so quickly? Luke was eager to make his own lightsabre, of course; had wanted to go to Ben Kenobi's old house before going to Jabba's so he could make himself a new one. Leia, loathe to spend any time at all _not_ rescuing Han, had convinced Luke to wait until after the rescue by insisting he carry this one.

A full throated roar from the entrance to the docking bay had both Luke and Leia reaching for their weapons, then Leia recognised the voice and looked at the hairy behemoth bearing down on them with disbelief.

"Chewie?"

Disbelief was rapidly subsumed by bittersweet joy as she was swept off her feet and into the exuberant embrace of the Wookiee, an embrace she returned wholeheartedly. How the Wookiee had escaped and got to Tatooine, Leia couldn't imagine, but his presence was more welcome than she could ever have imagined. Chewbacca attempted to set her back on her feet but she clung to him, overcome by emotion. It was as though, with Chewie here, their chances of getting Han back unharmed had suddenly increased a hundred fold. Because how could there be a Chewie _without_ Han?

The Wookiee was murmuring soft assurances; talking to her, but Leia was too overcome to make sense of his language. Finally she pulled herself together, wiped the tears roughly from her face with the heel of her hand, and disentangled herself from his arms.

"Sorry," she croaked.

"How did you-?" Luke started to ask and Chewbacca cut him off with his reply.

Leia smiled weakly and translated, "He says he'd know the sound of the _Falcon_ anywhere. He heard it come in and was coming to kill whoever was flying it." Running her hand over the Wookiee's fur as though afraid that he would vanish if she stopped touching him, Leia looked at him and asked, "How did you get here?"

[Prisoner transport,] the Wookiee told her, then added wryly, [Destined for Kessell.]

Their mutual tales of escape would have to wait, Leia hurriedly decided and asked, "Has Fett delivered Han to Jabba?"

Chewbacca nodded. [Lando is there,] he said, then clarified, [At Jabba's Palace.]

Leia felt her gorge rise and had to force it down. " _Lando_?" Then reminded herself that Solo and Chewie had spent time smuggling with Lando in the past. Chewbacca was well aware of the man's limitations and would not have sent him out there if he didn't think Lando could do the job.

[I was too recognisable,] Chewbacca explained. [I heard from Lando that Jabba has left Han in the slab and has it hanging on his wall.]

"Han is still frozen," Leia translated for Luke.

[We thought it preferable to get him to a medcentre before releasing him from the carbonite,] Chewie said, and she could hear the frustration at having to wait in his voice. [Lando is waiting for the right time to steal him out from under Jabba's nose,] the Wookiee added.

" _Steal_ him?" Leia said with disdain.

[You have a better idea?]

No, Leia admitted to herself, she didn't. In fact her plan had probably been along similar lines. But hearing it as Lando's plan left her predisposed to consider it stupid.

"Stealing Han out from under their noses is probably our best option," Luke put in. "I can use the Force and they'll forget we were ever there."

Leia frowned at him, reminded of the way Luke had got them off Vader's Super Star Destroyer. Something Vader had taught him. Manipulating sentient minds like that surely had to be a Dark Force thing? Yet, if it allowed them to walk in and out of Jabba's palace uncontested, Leia was not about to quibble. Despite Yoda's warnings to the contrary, Leia felt confident they could worry about light and dark sides of the Force _later_.

"I have medication and stuff to revive him if necessary," Leia told him, indicating her pack.

[Lando has some too,] Chewbacca said. He regarded them both for a moment then smiled hellishly and said, [Shall we go?]

Leia nodded and said for Luke's benefit, "Let's go." She started towards the entrance to the docking bay and Chewbacca fell into step beside her.

[There is a regular skiff transport out to Jabba's at sunset,] he told her. [As far as the skiff crew is concerned we'll be just another bunch of supplicants, but Jabba will recognise me.]

"Not if Luke can hide you," Leia said, but the look she caught from the Wookiee told her that he thought Luke might be placing too much trust in his use of the Force.

"Leia," Luke said, and she stopped to look back at him. "A word?" he asked, indicating that he wished to speak to her alone.

Wondering what Luke wanted to tell her that he thought Chewie shouldn't hear, Leia threw the Wookiee a look of apology and indulged her brother.

"What is it?" she asked closing the distance between them.

"Maybe you should stay here?" he suggested carefully.

"What?" Leia said, and wondered if he'd lost his mind. "What for?"

"This is going to be dangerous, Leia," he said, then added. "And it's not just yourself you're risking."

Outrage washed over Leia and she opened her mouth to retort, then reconsidered as the outrage settled into deep affront.

"Have you finished?" she said darkly.

"If Chewbacca knew you were pregnant there is no way he would let you go," Luke told her quietly.

Aware that Luke was threatening her, Leia didn't know what to say. She settled for giving him a fierce glare then walked back and fell into step with the Wookiee. Chewbacca gave her a querying look and she dismissed it with a shake of her head.

…..

Chewbacca adjusted the collar around his neck, the movement rustling the strong chain that attached it to the binders on his hands and feet, and glanced at the small princess sitting beside him. They were sitting in the bow of the relatively crowded sand skiff as it sailed across the endless sand dunes, while Luke, who had boarded separately, was sitting at the other end. The young man was cloaked and looked completely unremarkable next to the other denizens travelling beside him. Leia too was cloaked, but had boarded the skiff as a bounty hunter taking the very recognisable 'Chewbacca the Wookiee' to Jabba for the advertised reward.

They had _appropriated_ her clothes from a drunken, Ubese patron at the back of Chalmun's Cantina. The state and smell of the outfit, which included a helmet and breastplate, disguised the princess completely. Leia had been far from enthusiastic at the idea, but Luke had insisted for her own safety, and Chewbacca had agreed with him. Nevertheless, the minute it was dark enough, the princess had removed the helmet, and the deep breath she took suggested to Chewbacca that she was having difficulty breathing inside the helmet. Or perhaps it was just the _smell_ inside the helmet. Fortunately the Wookiee commanded enough fear, and the other occupants of the skiff had enough sense of self-preservation that they had all kept a respectable distance from him, so there was a chance none of them would notice the pale, round face of the princess inside her hood.

Looking at her now, Chewbacca came to the conclusion that Leia Organa had changed quite dramatically since their capture over Tatooine. To some extent, he put it down to whatever trauma she must have been through as a captive on Vader's ship, but he felt sure there was more to it than just that. Her relationship with Skywalker was definitely different, despite the fact that she seemed to have come to terms with the young man's parentage. Chewbacca wasn't sure if he had come to grips with it himself, but he knew he certainly wasn't about to blame Luke for an accident of birth.

He was also aware that, bounty hunter disguise aside, Leia smelled different. Not so different that he wouldn't have recognised her, but different enough to make him wonder what physical changes might have occurred. What sort of chemicals had been pumped into her during interrogation?

He felt her shiver and surreptitiously pulled her closer to share his own body heat; the desert was a place of extremes and, at night, could be surprisingly cold. Nevertheless, he couldn't help feeling a little surprised when she leaned against him, resting her head against him in a manner that gave away just how exhausted she was. It would do nothing for their 'bounty hunter and captive' charade, but Chewbacca did not have the heart to push her away, and hoped the darkness would conceal them well enough.

…

Leia was feeling nauseous again, probably due to the smell of the suit Luke had forced her to wear. If he had been sitting next to her, she might have asked for his help in using the Force to make it go away. But, as he'd already all but threatened to throw her off the rescue team because of her pregnancy, Leia decided it was probably safer not to let him know how horrible she was feeling. Trapped for at least another two hours on the sand skiff heading south towards Jabba the Hutt's _lair_ , Leia had decided to take refuge in the only course of action open to her: sleep.

Of late, sleep was something her body just couldn't seem to get enough of. Tiredness had been the princess' constant companion since Alderaan's destruction, but sleep or, more particularly, _restful_ sleep had always eluded her. As a result, she had become very adept at functioning surprisingly well on varying levels of exhaustion. Although she knew it was part of his spacer's survival skill, she had always envied Solo his ability to be able to sleep wherever and whenever the opportunity arose. To suddenly find herself likewise blessed made her wonder if the Corellian wasn't rubbing off on her more than she'd thought.

Then she irritably gave herself a mental kick. Rubbing off on her? Solo was the _cause_! If he hadn't got her pregnant she wouldn't be feeling so tired and nauseous!

Sighing, Leia rested her head against the Wookiee, taking comfort in his familiar smell and the feeling of safety his mere presence provided. Chewbacca had pledged to protect her and she trusted him but, more importantly, he had become the only stable factor in a life that had become so complex and confusing that she needed his constancy to keep her sane. Luke had changed, Han was gone, and she couldn't recognise herself at all. But Chewbacca was still there. And she _needed_ him.

Closing her eyes, Leia used the Force to lightly touch the presence that was her daughter, got a faint but reassuring response, then gave in to her body's desire and was asleep in a minute.

Luke had felt cross and alarmed when Leia surreptitiously removed her helmet, but watching her lean against the Wookiee left him feeling impotently furious. Only the fact that it was so dark, and most of their fellow passengers were dozing, stopped him from using the Force to telepathically chastise her. Seeing her leaning against her supposed quarry like that would do nothing for their charade of bounty hunter and captive, and Luke couldn't help feeling like she was deliberately trying to foil his plan. She had been so against wearing the bounty hunter outfit to start with.

He felt her use the Force to sense the child in her womb, reassuring and calming herself, then a moment later she was asleep. Luke had to employ a calming technique Yoda had taught him to stop himself from waking her. Leia _needed_ the sleep, he told himself sternly and, to distract himself, looked up at the brilliant display of stars overhead.

The constellations were a little different because they were in a different hemisphere to the one he was used to, but nevertheless the sky was familiar. Almost comforting. How many times had he looked up at this sky, at these stars, and _ached_ to be flying through them? How many times had he and Biggs Darklighter laid out on the roof of one or others' houses and gazed longingly up at a galaxy spread out across their night sky like a banquet?

Now Biggs was just molecules. Vaporised over the Death Star by his best friend's father.

Luke felt a sudden and acute resurgence of grief over the loss of his childhood friend. Blinked away the sudden tears that accompanied it and reminded himself crossly that, on Tatooine, tears were a dangerous waste of water.

He looked across at the Wookiee and wondered what Chewbacca was thinking about. Wondered if he had put them all at risk by taking them into Jabba's this way. It could all end so badly if his plan didn't work. Luke looked at his cybernetic hand and flexed it. So many variables to consider; so many things that could go wrong.

He wondered what sort of repercussions Vader had suffered for their escape from the _Executor_. Luke imagined the Emperor would not have been impressed at the loss of Leia or, more importantly, the child she carried, and had probably dispatched someone to Tatooine to recover them. Would he have sent Vader though? Luke suspected the Emperor might not consider his favourite Dark Lord quite as reliable as he had in the past. Specially where his offspring, Luke and Leia, were concerned.

Luke found his eyes drifting back to the dark shape that was his sister and forced himself to look out at the darkness. It would not do for any of their fellow passengers to notice his interest in the Ubese bounty hunter and his Wookiee captive. He had spent the first hour of their journey surreptitiously studying their fellow passengers. Gauging each of them for how threatening or disruptive they might be to his plans, or how he might be able to use them to further his own. And while he did not feel a sense of direct threat from any of them, he didn't doubt that each and every one of them could turn on him at a moment's notice.

One of the passengers, the only other human on the skiff beside himself and the princess, was a male spacer. Smuggler probably. He had a look and body language that reminded Luke of Han Solo, and Luke found himself considering that, under different circumstances, it could well have been Han. The Han who had flatly refused to help him rescue a princess until a large sum of money was mentioned. And had _bitched_ about the same princess ever since.

Luke couldn't help smiling at the memory. As well as the irony that the princess was now rescuing the smuggler, and pregnant with his child. For a moment Luke felt a whisper of concern at how Solo would react to the news of his impending fatherhood, then dismissed it. Despite his devil-may-care facade, Han Solo was a man of honour. The Wookiee was proof of that. He also loved Leia more than himself, which Luke found comforting.

No, more worrying was the prospect that Solo might come out of the carbon-freezing process with more than the hibernation sickness the medics had anticipated. That he might have suffered irreparable brain damage. Leia had stubbornly refused to consider the possibility; at least out loud. But Luke suspected she was as worried by the prospect as himself and the Wookiee.

The memory of the blast of awareness he had felt from Solo on Dagobah exacerbated his concern. Luke didn't know how anyone could suffer that sort of torment and remain sane.

The sky was lightening as they crossed the mountain range that separated the Uurakyn 'sea' from the rest of the planet. A sea of sand that covered almost a quarter of the planet and was full of the native and deadly sandworms. The vibrations created by simply walking on the sand below would bring one of the giant worms and, as far as Luke knew, only the Sandpeople had ever succeeded in surviving on this part of the planet. There were rumours that the Sandpeople actually _rode_ the sandworms but, like the rest of Tatooine's residents, Luke considered that one a fanciful myth. In his experience the Sandpeople were little more than vicious, opportunistic nomads.

Dawn passed quickly on Tatooine; a myriad of changing colours crammed into a very short five minutes. The colours of the desert leapt into sharp relief with the rising of the first sun, Tatoo 1, then shimmered through the reflected heat with the rising of Tatoo 2 a few minutes later. One of the passengers caught a glimpse of a sandworm in the distance and excitedly pointed it out to everyone else. Its head seemed to wave briefly in the hot air then it dove, vanishing into the sand. Being a former native, Luke was quite aware of the deceptive nature of the desert, and that the worm was a lot further away than it had seemed. It occurred to him that he was probably the only one on the skiff who could appreciate how big the worm really was.

He looked across at Leia. She, like the rest of the passengers, had been watching the worm, and Luke was relieved to see that she was once again wearing the bounty hunter's helmet. All the passengers seemed to wilt a little as the temperature rapidly rose, and he wondered how she was coping.

They were fast approaching a mountain that stuck out from the surrounding sea of sand like a large island of rock. An island which, because of the worms, could only be reached by air and, with carefully controlled air traffic Luke decided, it was as secure an installation as any crime lord could wish for. Then he saw what he assumed was Jabba's 'palace'. The building itself looked firmly rooted into the rock; as though it had been there for hundreds of years, and had an almost Alderaanian architectural style. What it had originally been built for, Luke had no idea, but he felt certain it was something Jabba had _appropriated_ rather than built.

There was some comlink chatter between the palace ground staff and the pilot flying the skiff, and a moment later they were swooping in through a cavernous opening in the side of the cliff face that bordered one side of the building. The abrupt drop in temperature was a welcome relief, as was the sudden darkness. The glaring sunlight was as unrelenting as the heat, and very hard on unprotected eyes.

Luke used the sudden darkness to shroud himself with the Force. It didn't make him physically invisible to the other passengers, just totally unremarkable and forgettable.

They were permitted a small 'fresher break before being lead to one of the inner rooms by a group of large Gamorrean guards. There they were met by a Twi'Lek male who eyed them all scornfully, then introduced himself as Jabba's majordomo and proceeded to rattle off the do's and don'ts of being in Jabba's palace and, more particularly, in Jabba's _presence_. He spoke in Huttese, but several protocol droids were hurriedly translating for the various language differences. Unfortunately they were all doing it at the same time, and the resulting cacophony made it difficult to understand any of them.

Then the Twi'Lek proceeded to interview each of the new arrivals personally, doubtless sorting them into an order of importance. Luke remained at the back of the small room, standing in a shadow, and was pleased to see that the Twi'Lek seemed excited by Chewbacca. With any luck Leia and Chewie would be taken to Jabba first and they could get this whole thing over and done with early. Nevertheless, it took a good hour before they were all processed and led into Jabba's throne room.

The first thing that struck Luke about the room they were led into was the smell. Jabba's throne room reeked of bodily fluids: sweat, blood, vomit, excreta, all competing with various food and drink smells. He couldn't help casting a worried glance at Leia. If he was finding it hard to stomach, in her present condition he was sure Leia would be finding it even harder. Jabba, alone, gave off a stench that rivalled the garbage compactor on the Death Star.

Jabba was not the first Hutt Luke had ever seen, but he was definitely the biggest. Luke estimated the slug-like being was at least three metres from nose to tail, with a girth of almost two. And the biggest feature on him was his mouth. Which probably explained why Hutts were so driven by appetite, Luke decided.

He watched the Hutt eye the newcomers hungrily, surprised at how easily he could read the arrogance in the Hutt's body language despite the difference in species. Luke had followed the group in; remaining hooded and cloaked, then slipped into an unoccupied shadow near the entrance. He felt a moment of disquiet when the Hutt's eyes seemed to settle on him for a moment, then dismissed it as his own nervousness. No one else had given him a second glance.

The size of the room surprised Luke. Not that it was small, but he had expected it to be bigger. Nor did it help that the Hutt himself took up so much of it. But, Luke surmised, from his position on the raised dais Jabba would know exactly who was in the room with him. And the room was certainly full. The variety of life forms was mind-boggling, as was the noise. Music was blaring from one corner of the room and he had to concentrate to hear past it.

He found himself wondering where Calrissian might be and attempted looking for him among the crowd. He hoped the former Cloud City administrator was in the room and that he would have enough sense to fall into rhythm with them when the battle started. As it was, there would be no way to get word to him.

Searching through the crowd for Lando, Luke's eyes found the carbonite slab containing Han Solo hanging on the wall in a small alcove opposite the entrance. Jabba had obviously had it placed it there as a warning to any supplicant or employee who might consider crossing him. The frozen expression of helpless pain on Solo's face sent a cold chill through Luke. Having 'felt' his friend's pain on Dagobah, the full horror of what he was looking at disturbed him greatly, and Luke had to force himself to look away.

He switched his gaze to Leia, but if she'd seen the slab of carbonite, there was no sign of it in her body language. She was holding a blaster against the Wookiee's flank with one hand, the other ostensibly keeping a tight rein on the chain imprisoning him.

Jabba's Twi'Lek majordomo was leaning towards the Hutt, whispering in his ear. Not that the Hutt _had_ ears perse but, Luke guessed that Jabba's hearing organ was in a similar area to most other life forms because that's was the part of his anatomy the Twi'Lek was whispering at. Or maybe he was shouting to be heard over the music; it was impossible to tell. Then the Twi'Lek turned and loudly introduced the bounty hunter. Without a translator, Luke couldn't be sure what he'd said, but Leia stepped forward and, in keeping with her masquerade as a Ubese bounty hunter, made her demands in clear Ubese. She also gestured at the carbonite slab several times, so Luke knew she had seen it.

The voice processor in her helmet effectively hid the fact that she was female, which had been a major factor in Luke and Chewie's insistence that she wear it. Jabba's proclivity for human females was well known, and the prospect of Jabba adding Leia to his harem of slave girls had almost been enough to get Chewbacca to agree to leaving Leia behind. He had relented only because she had agreed to wear the suit.

Her demands had been translated and were met with mocking laughter from Jabba and the rest of the court. Laughter that degenerated into a shocked gasp as the Wookiee's binders fell off and she produced and activated a thermal detonator.

Cursing silently to himself, Luke unhooked the lightsabre from his belt. The next step in their plan had been for him to try and 'talk' the Hutt into giving them Solo, using a bit of mental coercion through the Force. Whether the sight of Solo hanging on the wall like a grim work of art had triggered a knee jerk reaction from her, Luke wasn't sure, but Leia, it seemed, had decided they should skip that part of the plan and go straight to using a more conventional sort of force.

The Wookiee roared threateningly, then the music stopped abruptly and Luke felt his right hand go dead. Confused, he hastily bent to pick up the lightsabre that had fallen from his right hand with his left, but it shot across the floor to vanish among a sea of legs and bodies. He automatically reached out with the Force to call it back into his hand, felt it respond, then a violent tug in the opposite direction pulled it away from him again.

There was another Force user in the room!

He looked hastily at Leia, wondering if she had used the Force to pull the lightsabre to herself and, if so, _how_? When only a few days ago she'd barely been able to lift a pebble. Then he saw with dismay that, in the several seconds he'd been distracted, all their plans had gone to hell. The Wookiee was in full battle mode, tearing into Jabba's guards like they were paper dolls, trying to get to the princess who was being manhandled by several Gamorreans. Luke immediately abandoned his search for the lightsabre and rushed towards the dais, using the Force to push the denizens obstructing his progress out of his way as he unholstered his blaster with his left hand and fired at the guards holding Leia. The blaster was as dead as his right hand it seemed, and Luke dimly decided that the Hutt must have activated some sort of defence system which killed anything electronic. An electromagnetic pulse or something similar.

Leia had been unmasked, captured and, seeing the lustful expression on Jabba's face, Luke abandoned any attempt at subtlety and used the Force to hurl her captors across the room. He had almost reached her when the Hutt looked him in the eye and suddenly the floor vanished from under his feet.

He fell several metres before landing hard on a wide stone chute, which deposited him a moment later on a sandy floor ten metres below the throne room. Chewbacca and several Gamorrean guards had fallen with him and he rolled out of the way before they could crash into him. The Gamorreans were squealing pathetically and one of them was unsuccessfully trying to climb back up the stone chute. Their reactions strongly suggested he should be worried.

He glanced up at the grate he'd fallen through and chastised himself for being so stupidly arrogant to have walked into such an old fashioned trap. The grate itself was currently ringed with excited spectators, all jeering and placing bets, and he could see Jabba leaning over from his dais. He could also see the look of horror on Leia's face. Then he heard the low rumble that he suspected belonged to some sort of large animal, and turned in time to see the heavy metal gate at the other end of their small prison rise.

The Gamorreans were screaming with total panic.

 _Calm_ , he told himself. _Must remain calm_. _Focus on the Force_.

Luke shrugged off his cloak, letting it pool with the scattering of bones on the sandy floor, and took up a defensive position beside the Wookiee. The creature that came in through the gate must have stood at least 5 metres high, and was almost as broad. It eyed the prey that had been dropped into its den for a moment, then snatched up one of the panicking Gamorreans with a huge, clawed hand, and bit it in half with one powerful snap of its jaws.

Luke could feel the instinctive urge to panic rising in his own body and agreed with Chewie's alarmed bark. "We need to find a way out of here. _Now_."

The beast had spotted the Gamorrean that was still frantically trying to climb back up the chute, and moved purposefully across the large den, picked up the screaming guard, and ate him whole.

While it was busy chewing Luke and Chewie hurried to the other side of the den, frantically searching the walls for any sort of escape route. Luke found a crevice that was just wide enough for himself, but not for the Wookiee. Chewbacca had his claws out and was testing the walls, perhaps hoping he could climb out, when Luke's eyes fell on the heavy gate the beast had come through. He hurriedly decided that their best hope would be to get that gate back down _between_ them and the beast.

"Chewie!" he said, yelling to be heard over the roaring of the beast and the jeering of the crowd over their heads, and indicated the alcove the behemoth had come from. The Wookiee seemed to catch on because he headed that way, but Luke's yelling had focussed the beast's attention on _himself_. Fighting his own reflex to flee, Luke spent precious seconds watching the beast approach while he waited for Chewbacca to reach the relative safety of the alcove then, at the last possible moment, ducked inside the crevice.

The beast roared its frustration while it clawed at the crack in the wall and Luke pressed himself back as far as he could, but still the creature's claws came far to close for comfort. Then the outer edge of the small crevice started to crumble. Encouraged, the beast increased its efforts, and Luke watched with horror as his temporary cover crumbled.

He ran out between the creature's legs, hoping its size would make it that little bit slower. But it was well practised in the ways of cornered prey and walloped him with one foot, sending him sprawling across the sandy floor.

Gasping to fill his winded lungs and ignoring the sand in his eyes and mouth, Luke struggled to get to his feet, all the while moving away from the beast. Nevertheless, a moment later, he felt his feet leave the floor, groaning as the beast's fingers tightened around his torso and made it even harder to breathe.

It was largely instinct that got him using the Force to throw whatever was loose in the den at the creature, and its head was momentarily obscured in a cloud of sand and debris. But it did not let him go.

He threw his arms up to protect his head from a large bone that bounced off the beast's shoulder then, thinking quickly, called the bone to him using the Force. His right hand was still not working and he found himself ensuring the grip his left hand had on it by steadying the bone with his right forearm. As the beast opened its mouth to pop him in, Luke jammed its jaws open with the large bone.

Frustrated, the beast dropped him while it dealt with this new impediment to its desire, roaring with outrage. Luke fled to the alcove where Chewie was waiting, aware that the beast was close behind. The Wookiee was straining through a second gate, on the other side of which were several spectators, all of whom were laughing at the Wookiee's vain attempts to reach the controls that would release the first gate and seal them off from the creature.

Luke used the Force to release the heavy gate as he ran underneath it, heard the mechanism groan as it suddenly let go, then heard a peculiar sort of squeak from the creature as the gate slammed into place. Luke looked back to see that the first gate had come down on the creature's head. It struggled for a moment, then died with a great wheeze.

There was a moment of shocked silence from the room above, then the din was even greater than before. Jabba was roaring, sounding anything but happy. Luke sagged against the second gate; breathing hard and simply feeling relieved. He looked at Chewbacca and saw that the Wookiee had not relaxed. He was carefully watching what was happening on the other side of the gate. Luke didn't doubt there would be repercussions for this, but he was not about to apologise to anyone for not letting himself get _eaten_.

A group of guards was hastily gathering on the other side of the second gate and Luke pulled himself together, still struggling to get the last of the sand out of his eyes. Then the gate rose and they were ushered through.

Luke and Chewbacca were brought before Jabba again with binders on their wrists. Leia was almost lying on the Hutt, held there, Luke realised angrily, by a chain that was attached to a collar around her neck. He unlocked the collar using the Force, and Leia smiled gratefully at him, struggling to get away from the Hutt. But Jabba's ineffectual looking little arms were surprisingly strong, and she was dragged back against him. Nevertheless, she still looked happy and relieved to see Luke and Chewbacca alive, and Luke sensed she felt certain that her rescue was at hand.

With a thought he released his own binders and those on the Wookiee, causing a stir among the crowd, particularly the guards, and played on the nervous tension in the room by rattling everything loose that was lying around. He sensed the exit of half the room's population, but didn't take his eyes off the Hutt to check.

The Hutt rumbled deep in his chest and the protocol droid that was standing behind him stepped forward.

"Jedi," it said.

The Twi'Lek was hastily whispering in Jabba's ear, but Jabba kept talking and the droid kept translating.

"For the outrageous crime of killing his favourite pet Rancor, His Eminence, Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you will be terminated immediately."

"You will release Captain Solo and the girl to me," Luke said firmly, using the Force to empower his words with coercion. Again he sensed another presence, another Force user in the room. Another Force user that wasn't Leia. He refused to let it distract him and pushed it to the back of his mind.

"We will release Captain Solo and the girl to the Jedi," Jabba's majordomo repeated in Huttese and the protocol droid automatically translated.

"You weak minded fool!" Jabba replied, shoving him off the dais. "He's using an old Jedi mind trick."

Luke took a step closer to the dais and Jabba's eyes narrowed fractionally. The droid translated as he said, "Your mind powers will not work on me, boy."

"Nevertheless, I am taking Captain Solo and the girl with me. You can either profit from this, or be destroyed. It's your choice. But I warn you not to underestimate my powers."

Jabba the Hutt laughed. A deep, cunning laugh. "I like Captain Solo where he is," the droid translated. "And I will enjoy watching you die, Jedi." An element of outrage returned to Jabba's voice as he added, "You killed my favourite pet. For that I should feed you to a sandworm. Or, better yet… to the Sarlacc." He seemed delighted by his own suggestion, and a caterwaul of malicious laughter rippled through the crowd.

"There you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested _alive_ ," he added.

Luke shared a look of dark amusement with the Wookiee and decided he'd had enough. Time to leave. He turned eyes full of purpose back towards the Hutt then suddenly found himself unable to draw breath. He grabbed at his throat to loosen whatever had been wrapped around it, dimly wondering why he hadn't felt it coming, and why the Wookiee wasn't helping him.

There was nothing around his neck.

He felt the grip tighten and suddenly knew it for what it was: a Force choke. And berated himself for not investigating his awareness of the other Force user in the room. There were spots in front of his eyes now and he heard Leia shriek his name as he fell to his knees.

 _Leia_! he called mentally. _Help me_!

The roaring in his head drowned out the noise around him as he helplessly tried to fight off the unseen attack, and soon the need for oxygen outweighed everything else. He could feel himself passing out and allowed himself to panic, using the surge of adrenaline it provided to locate his assailant. He couldn't see her at all, but he could _feel_ her; could feel the Emperor's will behind her purpose. Instinctively Luke sent out a mental Force blast that should have knocked her unconscious.

He didn't know if it did though because something came crashing down on his head.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO.

Leia watched with horrified disbelief as Luke and Chewbacca were dragged from the room, wondering how their rescue attempt could have gone so badly? Luke was unconscious as they slapped binders on him and Leia just couldn't fathom what could have gone wrong. He must have been poisoned somehow. Perhaps when they were bringing him up after his battle with the Rancor? Suddenly his throat had seemed to close over. Unable to breathe, his face had gone red then purple and Leia had been terrified that he would die. Then one of the stupid Gamorreans had hit him over the head and knocked him out. But for some reason, as soon as he was unconscious, Luke was able to gasp a lung-full of air and now appeared to be breathing normally.

The minute Luke had started struggling, Chewbacca had attempted to help him, but was overwhelmed with Gamorreans holding him down. He too was bound and dragged away, leaving her alone with the Hutt. A different sort of fear gripped Leia then. Fear for the safety of her body and the life she carried inside it.

The slave collar was roughly replaced around her neck by one of the Gamorreans and her face was shoved up against Jabba's slobber ridden mouth. Revulsion replaced her fear briefly, then Jabba ran his putrid tongue over her face and she literally retched.

He was talking to her but she didn't understand a word he said. Then suddenly her clothes were being pulled off. Leia screamed, bit, kicked, fought with every millimetre of her being, but they were just too strong for her. Within minutes they had stripped her naked and Jabba held onto the chain attached to the collar around her neck the whole time.

Trembling with shame and outrage, and expecting to be raped, Leia told the Hutt defiantly, "You're going to regret this." She hoped desperately that she sounded more confident than she felt.

The Hutt seemed amused by her and said something more. Then the Twi'Lek grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled her off the dais and into the middle of the floor. He left her standing there; surrounded by Jabba's court, wearing nothing but a slave collar and the chain which connected it to Jabba's dais. Her hair had come loose, for which she was grateful. It fell in a thick wave to her bottom and covered her breasts at least.

But Jabba was obviously unhappy with it, because he muttered something and the Twi'Lek moved around behind her and roughly lifted the hair away from her body.

Leia stood proud, hate-filled eyes seeing nothing but the Hutt; watching as he appraised her. Then she realised that breeches were coming unhitched all around the room and quailed mentally. _I can't do this_. Her eyes slid to the figure of Solo, hanging frozen on the wall nearby, and all the admonishments he had given her on their four week journey to Bespin seemed to replay in her head at once. All his reasons for refusing to take her anywhere near Jabba.

But Jabba was obviously in no mood to share her today. He growled intolerantly at the would-be rapists and they retreated. Leia glared at the Twi'Lek and jerked her hair out of his hand, covering herself as much as she could, while Jabba barked something and several court members rushed away.

A large, six-breasted woman returned a moment later with her arms laden, and proceeded to dress her. First came the gold 'loincloth', a metal horror that also carried a skirt of sorts back and front, then a matching metal breast covering. There were even small boots to go with it, which Leia thought was kind of incongruous. But they saved her from walking around barefoot, so she was content to wear them. Then her hair was being done none too gently, and a headpiece was worked into the arrangement.

Jabba rumbled what she guessed to be an expression of satisfaction when they'd finished, and pulled her up onto the dais with him. She tried to endure his attentions by shutting her mind to it; tried to focus her mind on Han, but when the Hutt's hand found its way in through the side of the metal plate covering her right breast, Leia baulked. Repulsed, and without thinking, she leapt off the dais.

Jabba was livid. He yelled and bellowed at her, then flung the chain at her in fury. It collected the side of her face and left her lip bleeding. Then, faster than Leia could have believed possible, Jabba swung his tail around and knocked her off her feet. He was bellowing again and this time it was followed by laughter from the crowd. Leia looked up, fearful that he had just pronounced her execution, and remained crouched on the sandy floor, not knowing what she should do.

Jabba barked several commands at her and his Twi'Lek second hove into view.

"Nukdo," he purred maliciously. "Nukdo ne wanna Jabba nah."

The musicians started up at Jabba's bidding and he rattled Leia's chain.

"Dance!" the large woman hissed at her, hurriedly translating. "Dance for your master!"

Leia pursed her lip and stood up. Jabba wanted to test out his new slave girl and dancing was obviously a major part of her 'duties'. Sighing, she got to her feet and reminded herself that she'd been in worse situations. Interrogation on the Death Star had been worse. There was no way out of this; she would have to dance. It was years since she had done any formal dancing, yet she had been trained. But that sort of dancing in no way matched the type of music she was being presented with.

Jabba rumbled and shook her chain; he was getting impatient. Leia took a deep breath and started swaying, moving her arms and legs in what she hoped were elegant patterns, and was violently interrupted by the larger woman who was acutely aware of their master's perturbed dissatisfaction.

"You dance like you've got a stick up your arse!" the woman hissed at her. "Jabba wants an exotic dancer, not some prima ballerina! Dance like a whore or he'll feed you to the sandworms!"

Leia tried to think, forced herself to block out other influences, frantically searching for some experience she could use. Then she had it. There had been an ancient race on Alderaan whose dances she had studied several years ago. Without waiting another moment or letting herself think too hard about it, she launched into a fertility dance. It was the only one she could think of that might be considered erotic enough. Throwing her whole body into the movements, and keeping time with the music, Leia writhed.

Jabba seemed mesmerised.

The pace increased, but slowly, deliciously. She had the musicians following her lead now, and intended to drag it out as long as possible. Leia fluttered her hands over the parts of her body she wanted her audience to focus on, thereby doubling the effect each movement had. She had to admit that there was a cathartic element to losing herself in the dance, and the concentration involved allowed her to block out where she was and whom she was dancing for.

Across the room, Lando Calrissian was in shock. Seeing Chewbacca brought in by a bounty hunter had been bad enough. To have that bounty hunter revealed as Princess Leia and find out that Skywalker was there as he and Chewbacca were dropped into the Rancor's pit had seriously tested Calrissian's resolve to remain anonymous.

He couldn't begin to imagine how Skywalker and the princess had escaped from Vader. Nor did he miss the fact that Skywalker had a new hand. But he was undecided whether or not he should tell Solo about his girlfriend's dancing prowess. One thing was certain; Leia had just made sure she would not be killed any time soon.

It hit him when Solo's old nemesis, Jaden Farrouq swaggered into her path. The princess had obviously recognised the smuggler and reacted instinctively for half a second, putting a protective hand over her belly. She had removed it immediately, made it look like the movement was part of her dance and switched her reaction from shock to feigned indifference. But, watching her, Calrissian strongly suspected that she was pregnant.

He groaned mentally. The stakes had just gone up 500 fold. Not only was the princess at risk here, but her unborn child as well. _Han's_ child.

A wave of anger flared through him. Anger that Solo could be so careless. Anger that _she_ could be so careless. He had to assume it wasn't planned and came to the grim conclusion that one of them had let their contraception lapse. Solo may well have been her first, but Calrissian knew the princess was not stupid. Certainly not stupid enough to have unprotected sex no matter how besotted she was.

Farrouq was talking to Jabba now, and Calrissian couldn't help wondering what he was telling the Hutt.

In fact, the Hutt was quite irritated by Farrouq distracting him from the delight of watching his new slave girl. Until he mentioned the fact that she was supposedly Solo's _wife_. That explained why she had come for him, and why the Wookiee was working with her. The Jedi was still a mystery, but then Jedi had always been renowned for interfering in things that were none of their business.

He felt a resurgence of the anger he'd felt when the Jedi had killed his pet Rancor and was mulling over suitable torments and punishments when the music came to a close. Pulling his new slave girl back to him, Jabba relished the feel of her warm skin against his cool, wet belly. He ran his tongue over her, enjoying the taste of her sweat, and this time she remained where she was.

So she was not entirely stupid, it seemed. She could learn.

Nevertheless, he caught her glancing at the carbonite statue in the nearby alcove and considered unfreezing Solo. Watching her mate die could well break the determined spirit in his new slave girl, and it would certainly distract him from the disappointment of losing his pet Rancor. Watching her torment would doubtless be amusing too.

Jabba felt her stiffen as he commenced fondling one of her breasts. Stiffen but not pull away. And felt smugly pleased and confident in his power over her.

Watching the Hutt fondle the princess had to be one of the hardest things Calrissian could remember doing. Solo might forgive him for Bespin, but Lando knew for certain that Han would _never_ forgive him for this.

Abruptly he decided they would have to leave tonight. Somehow he would get Chewie and Skywalker out of whichever dungeon Jabba had put them in, but he seriously believed that he would have to kill Jabba to get Solo and the princess away. Trying to formulate a plan, Calrissian idly ran his hand across his belt, checking that the thermal detonator he had secreted into one of the pouches was still there. Jabba was very select about the sort of armament his guards were allowed to carry, and thermal detonators were _not_ on the list. Calrissian had been shocked to see Princess Leia under the bounty hunter's helmet, but had been quick enough to make sure it was he who relieved her of the thermal detonator when she was being disarmed.

And while the throne room was protected by a non-destructive electromagnetic pulse that would deactivate anything with an electrical current, unless the security EMP was activated, a thermal detonator could make a wonderful mess.

Leia tried not to look at the carbonite slab hanging nearby. Tried not to feel Jabba's groping of her overly tender breast, or the slime-ridden tongue which he ran all over her face, neck and cleavage. The whole time she did not look at him, _could_ not look at him, or he would have seen the burning hate in her eyes; and that would only precipitate her death.

She felt a thick ribbon of slime from the Hutt's tongue run along her collarbone and glanced down in time to see it trickle down between her breasts. An intense wave of nausea washed over her, made infinitely worse by the smell that emanated from the Hutt with every exhalation, and she retched. A moment later she was vomiting over the edge of the dais.

The Hutt seemed unfazed. Was in fact amused by the battle that was waged moments later by the scavengers in the room, laughing uproariously as they tore each other apart in their battle to consume the little bit of bile she had left.

Before she'd even had time to recover, Jabba pulled her back against him and offered her a drink that smelt like something from a fuel waste dump. Leia had to admit she was thirsty, but did she dare drink from the Hutt's cup? On the other hand, would he even let her refuse?

Testing him, she shook her head and pushed his hand away. But Jabba insisted, holding her immobile while he lifted the slime-slick cup to her lips. The smell of the liquid made her stomach heave again, and Leia turned her head away.

Jabba shifted the strong grip he had on the chain to where it attached to the collar itself, and tightened it ever so slightly. It was a threat that Leia understood immediately; drink or be strangled.

Praying that whatever was in the concoction would not harm her unborn child, Leia relented and attempted to sip from the cup. But that was not good enough for Jabba. He yanked her head backwards suddenly and flooded her mouth with the contents of the cup. Then he and the rest of the court laughed uproariously as she choked and spluttered on the vile liquid.

Gagging violently, Leia again vomited onto the sand in front of the dais. Her mouth was on fire and, despite her efforts not to swallow any of it, she could feel the burning trail the drink had made all the way to her stomach.

It was pure Spice. In a carrier of rocket fuel.

Seriously worried, Leia tried to vomit again, sought to purge as much of the drug from her system as she could. But she could already feel it racing through her blood.

Maliciously, Jabba grabbed her again and repeated the procedure, and again she fought and failed. This time the laughter bounced around in her head like an echo in an empty room.

Leia could feel herself trembling, lying helpless against the Hutt's belly, while the room seemed to fade in and out of existence around her, and realised with horror that Jabba could do anything to her now and she probably wouldn't be able to fight him. He was running one hand across her chest, above the uncomfortable metal bra she'd been forced to wear, and his touch was both bliss and agony on her suddenly hypersensitive skin.

Worried, Leia sought out her daughter's presence and found her surprisingly easily. Felt an incredibly strong response from her, and was amazed at how much she seemed to have grown. The last time she had felt the child this clearly had been in the waterfall on Dagobah. Was that even a week ago? And yet her daughter seemed to have changed dramatically. Bigger, stronger, and she literally _glowed_ in the Force.

Calculating her exact gestation became a momentary obsession for Leia, and she spent what felt like hours working out exactly how old the embryo was. When she was conceived, when she would be born, and realised that her daughter had crossed the threshold from embryo to foetus. She was fully formed; from now on all she would do was grow in size.

The Spice was affecting her daughter too; Leia could feel it. Could feel the spike of sharp awareness from her and sought to soothe her. Felt a flare of anger towards the Hutt who had inflicted this on both of them.

The Hutt was talking and months seemed to pass between each of his words. Then Leia felt something touch her leg. Assuming it was the small Kowakian monkey lizard she had seen climbing all over Jabba earlier, and unwilling to find the energy to look, not to mention break her pleasant communion with her daughter, Leia attempted to kick it away. Hands clamped down on her knees then; forcing them apart, and Leia found the wherewithal to pay attention.

The male running his hands up between her legs wasn't even human! Leia looked over her shoulder at the Hutt, wondering why he wasn't stopping this creature's attempt to rape her. She got the distinct impression that the Hutt was either happy to watch whatever performance this male was offering or seeing how far he dared go before having to swat him.

Leia growled and pushed the creature away, instinctively using the Force at the same time, and he fell from the dais with an undignified clatter. The Spice seemed to have taken the edge off her fear and she really only felt irritated by the pathetic male's interruption to her reverie.

Jabba and the rest of the court seemed to find it funny.

That bothered her because it suggested he would let it happen again. Leia forced herself to sit up, and struggled to bring her brain up to speed. The Spice had let her lower her defences.

A guard approached, one of the few humans in the room, and Leia couldn't help wondering if he was planning to try where the other male had failed. He produced two small metal discs from a pouch that hung from his belt and held them up to the Hutt.

"Your Eminence," he said in Basic. "Would you like me to mark her untouchable?"

With a shock, Leia realised it was Lando Calrissian, but could only catch a glimpse of his face through the helmet and mask he was wearing. Jabba seemed to consider his request for a long time, then she felt him nod.

Calrissian pulled out a small macrofuser and hurriedly fused the discs to the metal plate over her groin. Leia said nothing, just watched and, as he finished, Calrissian finally met her gaze. She could see profound regret in his eyes and realised he was here for the same reason she was – to rescue Han – and was trying to apologise.

Leia's gaze hardened. She could not forgive Lando; didn't know if she would ever be able to.

He indicated the discs and whispered, "They tell everyone in the room you're Jabba's. No one will touch you sexually without Jabba's express permission."

Leia nodded, but could not look at him. So Lando had lessened her chances of being raped. That was something. But it didn't mean she wouldn't be.

Calrissian moved away and Leia looked across at the carbonite slab hanging nearby. The agonised expression frozen on Solo's face almost broke her heart but, at the same time, it was impossible to look away. It was made worse by the fact that she had some idea of the sort of suffering he was going through in his so-called 'perfect' hibernation. Leia wished Lando could feel what Han was feeling.

With her Spice expanded Force sense, Leia sought out her lover's consciousness, dreading what she would find there, yet wanting to reassure him somehow. To tell him they were coming; that soon they would rescue him.

Pure panic and desperation flooded through her, and Leia knew it had come from Han. She tried to comfort him, tried to delve below the layer of panic and pain that seemed to be all he knew, but couldn't find him at all. Sentient Han had fled.

The panic swiftly became her own. Could he really be gone? She felt a reassuring touch from Luke in her mind and clung to it. She hadn't felt her brother since he'd been taken away, but hadn't had time to really worry about him because of all that had been happening to her. Leia could feel his concern for her and tried to reassure him, but wanted to weep. Everything was going so _wrong_.

She was dimly aware that Jabba was harassing her again, but couldn't focus through her Spice induced haze. She was still linked to Han as well as Luke, and no longer sure what was real and what wasn't.

The Hutt shoved her off the dais, barking orders at her, and she couldn't figure out what he wanted her to do. Did he want her to dance again? There was no music but Leia started dancing anyway, awkward on her feet thanks to the Spice. Some of the court seemed amused, but Jabba definitely wasn't. He dragged her back towards him, bellowing at her.

Leia glanced at the carbonite slab and it seemed to infuriate him. He was barking orders at others, and Leia wondered what sort of mayhem she had inadvertently caused now. Then she realised that the Twi'Lek was lowering the carbonite slab from where it was hanging on the wall.

Panic gripped her. What was Jabba planning to do with it?

The answer to that became obvious as the Twi'Lek started fiddling with the controls on the side of the slab.

Leia's worst nightmare was coming true: Jabba was unfreezing Han without any sort of medical assistance at all.

"No!" she shouted and started towards the alcove. "You'll kill him!" she added, but knew no one would care. Jabba jerked on her chain, pulling her up short and nearly crushing her windpipe in the process. Gasping for air, Leia watched as the slab of carbonite began to emit a high-pitched wail and screamed her terror through the Force at Luke.

It started at the extremities; his fingers and the toes of his boots slowly appearing as the melting carbonite slid away. Slowly the hard shell covering the Corellian's face liquefied and his face relaxed into something resembling death. Hands, so long frozen in protest, fell slackly to his sides. Liquid carbonite was pooling on the floor and the death-like figure, unable to hold its own weight, buckled at the knees and collapsed, falling forward and landing in the puddling carbonite with a dull _thwak_.

Leia was at the full length of her chain, beside herself with worry and desperate to get to Han as the Twi'Lek dragged Solo's body to one side, and watched him intently for any sign of life. Carbonite continued to slop from its housing and The Twi'Lek wiped what he could from Solo's face.

He looked back at Leia and grinned maliciously, ostensibly reporting to the Hutt. But he must have ordered the protocol droid to translate because it said, "Bib Fortuna reports that Captain Solo appears to be dead."

Leia felt as frozen as Solo had been. As though her soul was refusing to take a breath, refusing to commit itself to a life without Han. Fortuna was applying a metal disruptor to the arm binders that were on the Corellian's upper arms and removing them. Binders which had been forced on the smuggler on Bespin.

The horror of Bespin flooded through Leia again, and she couldn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks. She suddenly had a vivid recollection of the way Han had looked at her just before he was put into carbonite, and found herself weeping quietly, uncaring of who could see her or what they would think.

Han needed the medication she had brought. And he needed it _now_.

She felt the tension on her chain go slack and rushed forward. Leia didn't question why Jabba had decided to let her go, but suspected it was because he saw the opportunity for more amusement. She didn't care, as long as she could get to Solo.

 _Luke_! She screamed mentally as she bent over Solo. _Luke, help me_!

She rolled Solo onto his side while hurriedly running triage in her head. She repeated the list of possible side effects and what she would need to do about them and over and over to herself. The medic on Cloud City had been helpful in that respect, and Leia had drilled herself with his suggested procedure all the way to Tatooine. She knew exactly what to do, but now found herself without any of the drugs required, let alone the hypos and infusers to administer them with.

She shook Solo in an attempt to kick-start his breathing, but he remained cold and lifeless. With panic fluttering around the edges of her consciousness, Leia screamed mentally for Luke again.

 _We're coming, Leia_ , he replied, then added calmly, _Remember Hoth._

Leia paused in her examination of Solo. Luke hadn't told her to use the Force in so many words, but she knew that was exactly what he meant. Not so long ago, she and Solo had been caught in a major cave-in while they'd been setting up the base on Hoth; in fact Solo had nearly died. But _she_ had done something and healed him. Luke believed she had used the Force, but Leia had been more sceptical. Now, with the new knowledge of her heritage and her time on Dagobah, Leia was forced to accept the possibility. She had no idea what she'd done or how she might have triggered it but, looking at Solo's dead face, Leia knew she had nothing to lose.

Embracing him as much as she could, cradling his head and shoulders in her lap, Leia closed her eyes to the filth and despair of Jabba's throne room and consciously opened herself to the Force. It flooded through her, enhanced by the Spice, and instinctively she channelled it into Solo.

He responded immediately: gasping as his eyes snapped open. Then he started coughing and vomiting all at once.

Leia could feel his raw fear and sought to reassure him, murmuring softly against his ear while she held him firmly, helping him feel secure. The medic had suggested that Solo might well come out of the hibernation hypersensitive to everything, so she was careful to keep her voice low and calm. The medic had also been concerned that the trauma of being frozen then unfrozen would cause his retinas to detach, thereby rendering him permanently blind. But, he had then assured her that, assuming Solo received the correct medications within thirty minutes of being defrosted, the blindness would be temporary; his eyes simply taking longer to recover than the rest of him.

Leia sent out another urgent call to Luke, then tried to concentrate healing Force energy on Solo's eyes.

The Corellian had started to tremble, and it was steadily becoming more violent. He clutched at her and made a horrible sound. Suspecting he was trying to speak, Leia held him even tighter and said, "It's me, Han. It's me."

She wanted to tell him he was safe, but he wasn't. He was probably in the worst place possible. But he didn't need to know that yet, did he? Looking at his sightless eyes, Leia couldn't help herself; she held his face with both hands and kissed him firmly. And felt a spike in his awareness through the Force, felt his lips start to respond.

"Leia," he croaked when they parted, but only she could understand that the garbled sound he'd made was her name.

Abruptly she was yanked backwards by the collar around her neck. Pulled so hard that she was almost hanged as she was dragged across the sand-covered floor. Leia grabbed at the taught chain that was attached to her collar, frantically trying to get to her feet, desperate to get back to Han who was floundering pathetically on the sand nearby.

"Leia!" she heard him croak again and, finding her feet finally, tried to rush back to him. But the Hutt was keeping a short rein on her this time; allowing her to get halfway to Solo before pulling her up short.

Full of outraged frustration, and holding her chain to prevent him from attempting to break her neck again, Leia faced the Hutt and demanded, "Let me go!"

The Hutt simply chuckled, and then the carrion eaters moved in. Sycophants all, pathetic grovellers. They surrounded Solo and started tormenting him. Picking, prodding, shoving and laughing while the blind and disoriented man writhed helplessly on the sand.

Leia felt an overwhelming and familiar dark rage fill her, swiftly followed by an alarmed response from Luke. She could feel the power inherit in the darkness, and knew the Spice had amplified it. The arrogance that came with it she didn't even notice, just felt certain the power was something she could use. Something she could control. Something she could save Han with.

Ignoring Luke, Leia welcomed the darkness and, with a thought, created a shock wave that flung every creature close to Solo away. The Hutt responded by pulling savagely on her chain, and Leia turned eyes filled with hate and dark Force on him. Jabba's mouth was moving, but the sound of his voice was a slow boom. It was as though everything in the room had slowed to half speed. Everything except her.

A feeling of impending danger made her turn in time to see a female figure approaching through the crowd. A fellow slave-girl by the clothes she was wearing, but Leia could _feel_ that the woman was not what she seemed. Then Calrissian surged forward in front of the woman and Leia's feeling of hate and loathing deepened.

He rushed towards her, unsuspecting, and Leia wanted to slam him into the opposite wall. Wanted to slam him hard enough to break every bone in his body. Wanted to repay the agony he had inflicted on Solo a thousand fold. Only the consideration that he might still be useful to her stopped her. That and the fact that Luke and Chewbacca were right behind him.

But she didn't bother to disguise her look of disdain as Calrissian literally ran into her, knocking her to the floor. Her assumption that he had done it to perpetuate his disguise of being a guard, and that it was part of their new escape plan was proven correct when she heard him whisper urgently, "Go with the flow, Princess." Then she felt him press something hard and round into her hand.

Leia closed her fingers around the thermal detonator and hissed at him, "Throw me at Jabba!"

Calrissian hauled her to her feet and dragged her back to the smugly smiling Hutt. Leia made a show of fighting the guard, of trying to get to Solo but, with a final shove, was thrown into the waiting arms of the Hutt.

Using her momentum, Leia pretended to fall against him, and thrust the hand holding the thermal detonator as far down his throat as she could reach. Without pausing, and ignoring the wild thrashing of the Hutt, she activated it then withdrew her arm.

She smiled hellishly at the Hutt and used the Force to keep the thermal detonator in place as he immediately tried to purge himself. She didn't see him activate the EMP security system, but guessed he must have when the protocol droid behind them suddenly died. Smiling, Leia simply used the Force to turn it off again.

The Hutt roared, throwing himself off the dais, and Leia leapt out of his way. She used the Force to unlock her collar and rushed to Chewbacca, who was picking Solo up to carry him out.

"Hurry!" she said, yelling to be heard over the noise in the room, then turned to look for her brother as she asked, "Where's Luke?"

The " _shhhrrrrrrmmmmnn_ " of a lightsabre igniting riveted everyone in the room for a fraction of a second, then full-blown chaos erupted. Denizens were flooding from the throne room like oxygen from a starship with ruptured hull.

Her eyes drawn by the bright, lavender blade of the lightsabre, and expecting to see Luke holding it, Leia was shocked to see that the woman she'd noticed a minute ago was wielding it instead. The one her Force instinct had insisted was dangerous. She was holding Luke at bay with Han's mother's lightsabre and Leia was so affronted by her using it that she unthinkingly used the Force to snatch it out of the woman's hand. And felt almost as surprised as the woman looked when it was suddenly in her own hand.

Swiftly deciding that she didn't have time to contemplate any of it, Leia turned the lightsabre off just as Calrissian grabbed her round the waist and dragged her into the alcove the carbonite had been hanging in. He pressed her against the wall, shielding her with his own body, and she saw Chewbacca follow them in with Solo in his arms. She had a fraction of a second to wonder where Luke was, then the Hutt exploded.

It sounded wet, Leia thought ludicrously. Explosions were supposed to sound loud and sharp. This one had been loud, but it sounded _wet_.

Calrissian stepped aside and removed his helmet. Leia could see that he'd been liberally splattered with blood and matter, and glanced at Chewie to check that Solo was safe, then carefully looked out into the throne room.

Through the cloud of dust she could see that there was a huge hole where Jabba had been. Much of the floor had vanished and the ceiling was raining down in fine particles. Many of the room's occupants had been killed in the blast, and those that hadn't been were starting to moan. Blood and matter had painted every surface, and her own feeling of delight at knowing that those bits of matter had once been Jabba the Hutt disgusted Leia.

She tried to worry about Luke instead, but found she was more worried about the drugs he was carrying. Without looking at Calrissian, she ordered him to search for Luke while she helped Chewbacca with Solo. Luke had the drugs she needed to properly revive Han, but she would do what she could without them.

[We have to get out of here,] Chewbacca told her quietly, and Leia couldn't have agreed more. Nevertheless, she forced herself to concentrate on Han for a moment; laid her hands on his violently trembling chest and forehead and attempted to flood his body with healing Force.

Nothing happened and she frowned; searched inside herself for the power she knew she'd been wielding only a moment ago, and could feel it like a living thing. A darkness deep inside her. A very powerful darkness.

Irritated, Leia once again attempted to flood her lover with healing energy, and once again she failed. Anger gripped her. Was she to be tormented with enough power to defeat her enemy, yet not enough to save Han?

"Leia?" she heard Solo croak, and attempted to control her rage. She gripped his hand tightly and lay her cheek against his.

"I'm right here, Han," she told him softly, then kissed his cheek. It was so cold beneath her lips that it felt dead.

"Leia…" he stammered again, and Leia attempted to envelop him with love through the Force, but all she could feel was anger and hate. Han was dying in her arms and the only emotion she could feel was hate.

Calrissian staggered in supporting Luke, and Leia didn't even stop to consider that he might be wounded; simply demanded that he give her the bag of medications for Solo. Calrissian handed the bag over and she hastily rummaged through it. As soon as she found what she was looking for, Leia inserted the correct medication into the hypodermic spray gun and discharged it against Solo's neck.

Solo flinched, and Leia reasoned that his hypersensitivity had made the administration painful, but couldn't help feeling aggravated by his reaction. She stopped herself from growling irritably at him by concentrating on recharging the hypo. The medic had assured her that the highest risk of death in these first few minutes would be from stroke or an embolism. The first medication would thin his blood as well as dilate his vascular system, thereby hopefully avoiding unwanted clotting. This one was for saving his sight.

She discharged it against his neck and this time Solo actually whimpered. The sound shocked her so much that Leia felt tears spring in her eyes. Her instinctive reaction was to hold him and she cradled his head tightly against her chest, murmuring soft assurances against his hair.

"Leia," he croaked.

"I'm here, Han," she told him, and pressed her lips against his temple. "I'm here."

"W-w-w-w…?"

"Jabba's," she said, anticipating his question and relieving him from struggling to find the wherewithal to ask it. Then she hastily added, "You're safe. We're getting you out of here."

Solo's hand flailed in the direction of his face, found his eyes and wiped futilely at them. "I c-can't s-s-s-."

"The blindness isn't permanent," she assured him, then Chewbacca touched her shoulder and Leia read his intent at a glance. "Time to go," she told Solo, and relinquished him to the Wookiee. She felt something in her heart squeeze as she watched the Wookiee lift her lover like a helpless child; heard him rumble soft assurances in Shri-Wook as he turned to carry Solo from the alcove.

"Follow me," Lando told them and Leia grabbed the bag as well as the lightsabre she'd left lying on the sandy floor, and followed him out.

Calrissian was still supporting Luke, and Leia suddenly thought to ask after her brother's well being, but her query was met with a flat, "I'll be fine, Leia."

The tone in his voice brooked no argument, although Leia could hear he was in pain. She also got the distinct impression that he wasn't happy with her. Leia dismissed the problem and focussed her attention on their escape from Jabba's lair.

Calrissian led them through a maze of stairwells and tunnels to the cavernous room that housed Jabba's sail barge and a fleet of skiffs. A large number of denizens were fighting over the sand skiffs already and there were several firefights in action. Calrissian pointed to one of the skiffs that seemed to have been overlooked. Its position behind the sail barge had kept it largely out of sight and, crouching low to avoid being shot, they followed the erstwhile guard towards it.

A woman stepped out from behind the skiff just as they reached it and levelled a blaster at them. She was of a medium height with an athletic build, and Leia recognised her as the one who had been threatening Luke in the throne room. She felt a dramatic rise in her irritation levels, disappointed that the woman hadn't perished with Jabba.

"Who are you?" Leia heard Luke ask and turned an incredulous expression on her brother.

"She's an assassin," Leia answered him churlishly. "Can't you tell?" She readjusted her grip on the lightsabre and added darkly, "Sent by the Emperor."

The woman saw the movement and her eyes appraised Leia coolly.

Calrissian had his blaster trained on the woman and deferred to others by asking, "Do we take her with us or kill her?"

"Kill her," Leia replied immediately, then bridled at the look her pronouncement prompted from Luke. Her instinctive reaction was to wonder if he'd suffered brain damage in the blast. Surely he realised what this woman was here for? What she wanted to take them back to. What she would help the Emperor do to her daughter?

Then it abruptly occurred to Leia that this might be exactly what Luke was hoping for, and she moved a step away from him. The way he had got them off Vader's ship, the way he had somehow manipulated her every step. After two weeks on Vader's Super Star Destroyer, chances were he already _knew_ this woman!

Leia glared at Luke as though he had just betrayed everything she believed in, then heard the woman say, scornfully, "You're _so_ like your father."

Gripped by a white-hot fury, Leia rammed her lightsabre up under the woman's chin without thinking, her thumb resting on the activation switch. The woman froze, then very carefully allowed her blaster to fall from her hand, but her green eyes regarded Leia carefully. There was no fear in them.

"Are you sure this is the path you want to take?" Leia heard Luke ask quietly.

"Shut up, Luke," she snapped. She longed to activate the lightsabre and remove this deadly hindrance once and for all. Part of her wondered why she hadn't already.

"Is it a path you're prepared to take Han down?" he insisted.

"Shut up!"

"Han will follow you, you know that. Even down that path. He'll follow you anywhere."

"Shut _up_!"

Then she heard Solo stammer, "Leia?" and felt like her mind was tearing in two. She jerked the lightsabre out from under the woman's chin and threw it at Luke.

"You deal with it then!" she told him scathingly and, without looking at any of them, climbed onto the skiff and started looking for the controls.

Chewbacca eyed the female assassin carefully then moved past her and followed Leia onto the skiff. Calrissian looked at Luke and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Luke bent awkwardly, favouring his wounded side, and picked up the lightsabre, then said, "Let's go."

Uncertain, Calrissian stopped him from moving towards the skip and told him in a low voice, "There's the old adage about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer…"

Luke regarded the woman for a moment then shook his head and moved past her. "Leave her."

Calrissian bent and picked up the woman's blaster while giving her a hard glare, then helped Luke board the skiff. Unhappy about leaving an enemy free, he had to ask, "Are you sure about this?"

Luke nodded and Calrissian threw the assassin a look that told her he thought she'd got off ridiculously lightly. Then he moved Leia out of the way so he could start the skiff.

A moment later they flew out of the hangar and into the bright Tatooine daylight.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE.

Solo moaned as they were enveloped by the all-encompassing heat from Tatooine's suns, but it was more a groan of relief than one of pain. He still felt horribly cold to the touch and Leia guessed that his body temperature was still dangerously low. The excessive desert heat would be a balm for him. Her own skin, on the other hand, felt like it would soon burn to a crisp. And the fact that so much of it was exposed meant that an awful lot of it was going to get sunburned. But, as there was nothing she could do about that right now, Leia dismissed it.

Chewbacca had laid Solo out on one of the skiff's bench seats, and she knelt beside it and took a moment to simply gaze at his face. Drank in his presence with her eyes, letting the reality of his survival, of his existence, permeate her being before allowing herself to touch him. Han was really there, and he was _alive_.

Profound relief flooded through Leia and she felt the darkness that had so recently gripped her evaporate like water in the Tatooine heat. Her body trembled as she fought to suppress the tears that were prickling the back of her eyes. She knew the fight was not over; that Solo still had a long way to go before he could be considered well. But seeing him lying there, _breathing_ … Just the steady rise and fall of his chest left her wanting to sob with joy.

Leia swallowed hard, trying to ease the lump that had formed in her throat, and let her fingertips brush the hair from his forehead.

"Who's that?" Solo croaked, and waved his hand in her direction. It connected with her arm as Leia leaned across and touched her lips to his in a whisper-soft kiss.

"Someone who loves you," she told him, her voice tight with emotion.

"Leia," he croaked, and gripped her arm so hard it hurt; pulled her hard against him.

The pain was ironically comforting. More proof that he was real; that he was alive. And, now that he was alive, she was allowed to live again. Leia leaned against his chest while she lost herself in his kiss, ignoring the way the metal bra she'd been forced to wear pressed painfully against her breasts.

Solo winced uncomfortably though, breaking the kiss and vainly trying to look at her while his hands roamed across the offensive bra.

"What are you wearing?"

"Not a lot," Leia admitted.

Solo's hands were investigating more, roaming across her back and shoulders and, sensing his rising alarm, Leia pulled away and sought to change the subject.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, and looked up at Chewbacca as he returned from a quick foray aft and passed her a flask. "Here," she told Solo. "Water."

Solo acquiesced as she held the flask to his lips and let a little drizzle into his mouth. He took a second sip, but seemed troubled by it and shook his head when she tried to offer him another.

Concern for Luke was finally penetrating Leia's consciousness and, after assuring Solo that she would be back momentarily, she turned to offer her brother the flask of water. He was sitting on the next bench with his back to her, and was in the process of removing his shirt so he could investigate the wound on his right flank.

Seeing the wound left her shocked at how much damage he seemed to have suffered.

"Luke!" she said, gripping his shoulder.

"Shrapnel," he replied dismissively. "How's Han?"

Forcing her thoughts back to Han distracted Leia and she glanced back at the smuggler, frowning. "He's…" She tried to focus her attention back on Luke and handed him the flask, telling him to drink. A native of the desert, Luke didn't need to be told twice; he took two deep draughts from the flask then handed it back to her with thanks.

He winced as he attempted to explore the damage on his flank with his left hand, and Leia moved around to get a better look at it.

"This is going to need stitches," she pronounced quickly, and Luke nodded.

"I know," he agreed tightly.

While Leia felt sure he wasn't about to bleed to death from it, the wound was still bleeding and she automatically wadded up his shirt and placed it over the damaged area.

"Hold that," she said, then set off to find something on the skiff that she could use to hold the makeshift bandage in place.

Calrissian was at the rear of the skiff, flying it, although it was currently on automatic pilot. Leia had to climb over another bench to get to him, and was very conscious of how little she was wearing. A feeling that was exacerbated as she noticed Calrissian's eyes range over her body as she approached, then smile guiltily at her. The man had seen her naked in Jabba's court and most probably in the surveillance on Cloud City, yet he still couldn't help leering. Leia's expression hardened and he all but grovelled.

"I need a decent length of cord or rope," she said stiffly.

Calrissian was almost obeisant as he hurriedly foraged through the pile of odds and ends under the nearest bench. He pulled out a length of cord that looked like it might be suitable and Leia helped him disentangle it from the various cloths and containers it was wrapped around.

"Thank you," she said stiffly, grabbing a scrap piece of cloth as an afterthought, then turned away to head back to Luke.

"How's Han?" Calrissian asked.

Leia paused, not quite sure how to answer his question. Not when he was the cause of Solo's suffering. "Improving," she said without looking at him, then headed aft.

Returning to Luke, Leia wrapped the piece of scrap cloth around his torso, then followed with the cord, tying it firmly. While she tried to make sure she didn't tie it too tightly, she knew the bandage had to exert some pressure on the wound if it was to staunch the bloodflow. She had placed the extra cloth around him to help to protect his skin from being cut by the cord.

She could sense he was still unhappy with her and wished he would simply let it go. Leia could feel that the effect of the Spice had all but dissipated, and with it her sudden paranoia that Luke was about to sell her out to the Emperor. Luke was her close friend, her _brother_ and, considering her recent flirtation with the Dark Side, probably more trustworthy than she was herself when it came to Force related matters.

"How does that feel?" she asked, testing the tension on the cord.

"Fine," he replied flatly, then stopped her hand as she reached for the pouch of medicines.

"I need to give you something to stop infection," she argued.

"Thanks, but save it for Han," he said, then added, "I'll see if a healing trance will help."

Luke had barely looked at her since leaving Jabba's, but now he finally met her eyes and his expression was guarded and vaguely hostile. "We'll talk later," he told her firmly and, knowing she was in for a lecture about the Dark Side of the Force, Leia had to stop herself from scowling petulantly at him. Wasn't the healing stuff something his _Dark Side-_ using father had taught him? But she simply nodded and moved across to the next bench where Han was lying.

Solo was now shirtless; a feat she assumed Chewbacca had helped him achieve. It concerned Leia, despite the fact that Solo seemed to be enjoying the feel of the suns on his skin. After almost a month frozen in carbonite, who knew what the sudden exposure would do to his skin?

She started to ask Chewbacca where the shirt had gone when he held it up and told her quietly, [For you.]

Solo had given up his shirt for her? Leia glanced at Solo then shook her head. "He needs it-"

"Put it on, Leia," Solo said.

He knew she had been Jabba's plaything, Leia realised. She didn't know whether Chewie had told him or if Han had come to the realisation by himself, but she suspected he felt responsible for it. Offering her his shirt was simply a small way he could restore some of her dignity.

Leia accepted the shirt and held it against her chest as the Wookiee helped her to release the straps on her back that held the metal bra in place. She slipped her arms into the shirt then let the bra fall, kicking it out of sight under the bench. The shirt was still damp and felt wonderfully cool against her skin, but it also smelled of carbonite, which fuelled the leaden nausea that was her constant companion.

How was she going to tell Han about being pregnant? To date, just finding him alive had been her focus. Now they had succeeded, which meant she would have to deal with all the other issues that had arisen in his absence. Like who her father was.

Leia pushed that unwelcome thought aside as quickly as it had surfaced. _Later_ , she told herself firmly. She would deal with all of that later.

Her breasts felt heavy and sore, and Leia was sure the metal bra had left bruises. Undeniably grateful for the gift of his shirt, Leia knelt beside Solo again and tried to make light of the situation by teasing him.

"You felt you had to give me the shirt off your back?" she said.

Solo smiled and rolled towards her, pulling her into an awkward embrace and running his hands across her back.

"Motives were purely selfish," he assured her and punctuated it by surreptitiously fondling one of her breasts.

Leia did not pull away, certain he was checking that she had removed the metal bra. A theory that was proven correct when his hands returned to caressing her back almost immediately.

"My eyes must be getting better," he commented, rolling onto his back and staring skyward. "Instead of a big dark blur, I can see a big light blur."

Leia covered his eyes with her hand and told him, "Keep them shut. You could damage them."

"Everything's a blur…" Solo muttered, and Leia got the distinct impression he wasn't just talking about his eyesight.

Chewbacca must have come to the same conclusion because he asked, [What do you remember?]

Solo was looking decidedly uncomfortable. He released his hold on Leia and wiped his hands across his face.

" I need to sit up," he said, and struggled to do so.

Leia wasn't sure that was such a good idea, but didn't stop him. Then shared a worried glance with Chewbacca as the Wookiee had to put out a hand to stop their blind friend from tumbling off the bench completely.

[Maybe you should lie for a bit longer,] he suggested, but Solo seemed determined to sit up.

Leia watched the colour drain from his face and immediately put a hand to his forehead. He had broken out in a sweat and was trembling again. He pushed her hand away, seemingly irritated by the touch.

"Han, lie down," she insisted, but he pushed her away again.

"Don't," he said, then promptly groaned and bent over holding his middle.

"Han-" Leia started but he cut her off.

"I feel terrible," he moaned. "What the hell happened to me?"

Leia shared a look with Chewbacca. Solo had lost some memory.

"You have hibernation sickness," she explained gently. "Lie down, Han."

Behind her, Luke had abandoned his attempt at self-healing and sat up to observe Solo.

"What's the last thing you remember, Han?" he asked carefully.

"I dunno…" was the distracted response. "I can't even tell if I feel hot or cold…"

Leia felt his forehead again. Solo's body had gone from one temperature extreme to another. And, with it having to relearn how to adjust itself, was it any wonder his system wasn't coping?

"We need to get the sun off him," she told the others tersely.

"Here," Calrissian said quickly, pulling a long piece of cloth out of the pile he and Leia had been scrounging through moments before and dragging it towards them. "Put him on the floor and drape this between the benches."

Leia was impressed with Calrissian's suggestion, but was not about to tell him so. She nodded curtly and accepted the cloth as Chewbacca harassed Solo onto the floor of the skiff.

Luke and Chewie were helping her arrange the makeshift shade cloth over Solo when he said, "Leia?"

"I'm here, Han."

She hurriedly knelt beside him and gripped the hand that reached out towards the sound of her voice; watched his face while he carefully considered his words. His larynx bobbed as he swallowed and she wondered whether to offer him more water.

"What'd he do to you?" he asked finally.

 _He?_ Leia wondered. Then realised he was worrying about what Jabba might have done to her. Had already felt worried enough about it to give her his shirt.

"I'm fine," she assured him.

Solo's free hand was running an unsteady staccato over her hair and body, and Leia suspected his imagination was running amok.

"We're all here, Han," she said. "We're all safe."

He cut her off, grabbing her upper arms and held her still, angrily demanding, "What'd Jabba do to you?"

"Han-"

" _What'd he do to you?_ " he yelled, all but shaking her.

"He made her dance, Han," Lando said firmly, sensing that Solo's panic was getting out of control. "That's all, I swear. Just made her dance."

Solo turned his head in the direction of Calrissian's voice and demanded sharply, "Who's that?"

"Lando," Leia told him.

" _Lando_?" The reaction from Solo was surprisingly violent. But bizarre in that his body seemed to remember Lando's part in its condition while his head didn't. He jerked sideways, yelping as he hit his head on the bench the Wookiee had just helped him off. Of course, they then crowded around him in an attempt to help him, but that seemed to upset him even more. He lashed out blindly to fend them off, pulling down the makeshift shade cloth in the process and moaning as he was re-exposed to the Tatooine suns. The Wookiee took a firm grip on his upper arms until he had stopped struggling and kicking.

[Han, be still. You are hurting yourself.]

"I…I…" Solo was shaking uncontrollably. He grabbed hold of the Wookiee's arms and clung to them like a lifeline. " _Chewie_!"

[It's alright, Han. You're safe.]

Distressed to see Solo in such a state, Leia stood back out of the way and hugged herself. She was aware that Calrissian had beat a hasty retreat back to his position at the helm, but couldn't feel any sort of pity for him. It was _his_ fault that Solo was like this!

A creepy sensation dragged her attention to Luke, found him with his eyes shut and an unnaturally calm expression on his face. She knew at once that he was using the Force to calm Solo and had to fight an instinctive outrage at the violation. Right now Solo needed whatever help Luke could give him.

And it did appear to help. Solo quieted, but he did not let go of the Wookiee.

"What the hell is _Lando_ doing here?" he finally stammered.

[He came to help rescue you,] Chewbacca rumbled.

"Rescue me? From what?"

[From Jabba.]

Leia could _feel_ Solo's confusion and couldn't stop herself from moving closer. Luke took her hand and told her in a low voice, "He's in more pain than we realise. Do you have something that will sedate him?"

Sedating Solo was not an idea Leia was comfortable with, but neither did she like the thought of him suffering unnecessarily. And she could understand Luke's reasoning. Mental and physical stress was doubtless going to make Solo's recovery harder. Alleviating his physical stress, at least until they could get him into a proper medcentre facility, could only help him.

Leia nodded her understanding and moved to retrieve the bag of medicines they had brought with them from under the bench. The Bespin medic hadn't said anything about Solo being in pain when he came out of the carbonite, but she guessed it was to be expected. She felt a rekindling of the anger in her soul and went back to looking for a sedative in the bag of medicines while Chewbacca fussed with rearranging the cloth they had hung across the two benches, making sure that Solo was out of the direct sun. Leia's irritation rose as she realised she couldn't identify anything appropriate. The only thing vaguely suitable as a sedative was a strong pain-killer. Without hesitating, Leia filled a hypo with it and moved to discharge it against Solo's neck, pausing to inform him at the last minute.

He frowned, but nodded his approval, then winced as she administered it.

Leia resealed the bag and put it to one side, then shifted forward a little so she could caress his face. Solo closed his eyes and relaxed a little, enjoying her touch. Leia could feel Luke using the Force again; using it to help calm the Corellian, and wondered if she should try helping. But her sudden failure in Jabba's palace, not to mention the Darkness that had caused it, frightened her. The spectre of Vader loomed large in her conscious and Leia wondered how she would ever be able to tell Han about him.

"Am I dying?" Solo murmured.

Leia's eyes filled with tears and nothing she did could stop them. She held her breath lest he hear the shudder in her breathing and desperately willed them away.

[No, cub,] Chewie replied. [You are living.]

"I'll get you some water," Leia finally managed to say; finding self-control in thinking about Solo's physical needs for survival.

Solo shook his head. "No."

"You need to drink," she insisted, but Solo shook his head again.

"No."

Leia felt Luke touch her gently on the shoulder, a subtle support, while he asked the Corellian, "What do you remember, Han?"

Solo wiped his hands across his face and mumbled, "I dunno…"

[Do you remember leaving Hoth?] Chewbacca asked.

The question filled Leia with dread and she looked at Solo, both desperate and terrified to hear his answer. What if he didn't remember the journey to Bespin? How the hell would she explain her pregnancy?

It took him a moment, but Solo finally nodded and Leia felt profound relief.

[Do you remember Bespin?]

This time Solo shook his head, and for a moment Leia envied him. She wished that she could forget the horror of Bespin too.

"We had no hyperdrive," he said suddenly, opening his eyes to stare blindly at the rough canvas hanging over his head.

[That's right.]

"Bespin was close… and I was hoping Lando would…" Abruptly Solo's face broke into a huge grin. "Lando!"

Leia shared a look of dread with Chewbacca. Solo had attempted to fill in the holes in his memory and come to the conclusion that Calrissian had helped them. Neither of them knew whether they should correct his misconception.

"Hey, Lando," Solo called happily.

"Hey, buddy," was the guarded response.

Leia couldn't look at Calrissian, certain she would throw up.

"So… what the hell happened? How did we end up here?" Solo asked.

The was a long silence then Chewie finally answered, [Vader was waiting for us on Bespin. Vader and Boba Fett. Fett brought you here.]

"Vader?" Leia felt Solo tense dramatically and he gripped her arms, felt her face as if reassuring himself that she was really there. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently.

"I'm fine," she assured him, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'm fine."

"Luke?" There was panic in Solo's voice.

"I'm here, Han."

"We escaped," Leia told him, constantly stroking his face. Reassuring him with her fingertips. "But we lost you," she admitted sadly.

"Why can't I remember?"

"Vader had you… frozen," Leia started, but couldn't finish.

[We knew Fett would bring you here,] Chewbacca explained.

"I can't remember," Solo said, and Leia sensed his panic was growing.

"It's alright," she started to tell him but he cut her off, muttering, "I can't remember. I can't see and I can't remember…"

"Han, it's alright," she assured him.

"But I can't remember!"

"Han-"

"How much don't I remember and what am I remembering _wrong_?" He struggled to sit up again and Leia tried to hold him, but he crushed her to him. Clung to her as though it was life or death. Then a spasm of sorts gripped him and he let her go to wrap his arms around his middle, bent double and groaned at the sudden, sharp pain.

He rolled onto his side as the pain subsided, curled into a foetal ball facing away from her.

"Vader did this to me?" he murmured.

Leia couldn't answer him, crippled by shame and distress. _Vader. My father and your daughter's grandfather._ She caressed the side of his face and felt his exhaustion as though it was her own. Felt his consciousness fade as he gave up fighting.

 _Oh, Han…_

"He's asleep," she told the others softly.

The screams galvanised them.

Left them watching with horror while he howled with sudden, pure, unadulterated terror and his body fought a foe only he could see.

Solo had been asleep maybe fifteen minutes, and now he was screaming like he had all the demons from every hell imaginable after him.

 _No_ , Calrissian corrected himself grimly. _Just one demon._ _ **Vader**_ _._

Solo was retching now. Still not fully conscious yet his body was forcing him to vomit. Attempting to purge itself of the carbonite invader. Chewbacca had hastily removed the makeshift shade cloth so he could help Leia make sure the Corellian's throat was clear, then hurriedly cleared away the debris around Solo's head.

Watching them from his position at the helm, Calrissian felt little besides overwhelming guilt. There was some relief in there; for the fact that they had all not just survived Jabba's, but escaped with Solo alive. But watching Solo now; seeing the agony he was going through, seeing the agony his friends were going through, Calrissian couldn't help wishing he was somewhere else. Knowing he was the cause was not something he was finding easy to live with, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what he could have done to change the outcome. The fortune for all of them had been cast the minute Solo had set course for Bespin.

From the moment Han and his princess had walked into Calrissian's comfortable niche in the galaxy, Lando had wished them gone. Wished they had never come to his city. Wished he had never had the misfortune of being in the right place at the wrong time.

Solo was vomiting again, and Calrissian watched helplessly, wishing desperately that the skiff could go faster, but Mos Eisley was still hours away. The distinctive smell of carbonite drifted back to him and Lando had to stop himself from grimacing with distaste. The princess was obviously affected by the smell too, because she backed off suddenly, hand over her mouth, and looked like she was about to vomit as well.

Calrissian wondered if he'd been correct in his assessment of her being pregnant and couldn't help studying her body for telltale signs. From what he'd been able to see of her figure before she'd put the shirt on, he didn't think there was any thickening of her waistline. But that didn't mean anything. If the princess was pregnant, she was still in the early stages.

Lando sighed. No doubt about it: as soon as Solo realised exactly what his 'old friend' had put them all through, and particularly the danger he had put the princess in, Calrissian felt sure that Solo would kill him.

Solo had settled again, and now Chewbacca, Skywalker and the princess were arguing. Skywalker wanted to break their journey until nightfall, and apparently knew of somewhere relatively close where they could. The princess was outraged at the suggestion, seeing the _Falcon_ as Solo's only immediate source of help, and accused Luke of using Solo as an opportunistic excuse for taking them to something called 'Kenobi's house'. Chewbacca, on the other hand, seemed swayed by the Jedi's argument. Calrissian could certainly see sense in the suggestion. There was a good reason why Jabba's people only flew out to the palace at night; the Tatooine suns were relentless and temperatures in the deep desert could get as high as sixty degrees Centigrade. Deadly if one was out in it for more than short bursts at a time. And if this 'Kenobi's house' had shelter and water as Skywalker was insisting, then going there seemed eminently practical.

The argument was interrupted by Solo showing signs of distress once more. Murmuring and shifting unhappily. The princess attempted to soothe him; caressed his face, murmured assurances into his ear, but none of it seemed to help.

"Leia," Calrissian heard Solo sob. "Leia…"

"I'm here, Han," she reassured him softly. "I'm safe."

Solo moaned again and this time she whispered directly into his ear. Solo's fists clenched and unclenched spasmodically, then suddenly he shrieked, " _ **Leia!**_ " and kicked out violently, his booted feet connecting with the side of the skiff. " _No!_ " he screamed. " _ **No!**_ "

[Han!] the Wookiee barked, trying to shake him awake and forcing Leia, who was trying to hold the Corellian, to let him go.

Solo vomited again, and the princess retreated once more, resorted to searching through her bag of medicines for anything that might help while Chewbacca and Skywalker cleaned up the mess. Calrissian had given her the drugs he and Chewbacca had managed to scrounge from the Mos Espa medic, and he could only hope that she would find something that might make a difference.

He watched her pull what he recognised as an infuser out of the bag and his estimation of her rose dramatically as she confidently moved forward and attached it to the Corellian's arm, with the Wookiee holding Solo firm. Calrissian didn't think there would be many princesses in the galaxy who could manage emergency medicine as well as this one.

She and Skywalker were discussing Solo's temperature now, and Lando got the distinct impression that the 'discussion' was going to regress into an argument very quickly. Chewbacca must have thought so too, because he barked irritably at both of them.

Nevertheless, Leia managed to snipe at Skywalker, "You've never seen his handiwork before, have you Luke? His _personal_ handiwork."

Calrissian wasn't sure, but he suspected she was referring to Vader. And he would have disagreed with her. In his opinion, losing a hand in a lightsabre duel with the Sith Lord was very personal. (Not to mention finding out the son-of-a-bitch was your father.)

Skywalker, though, looked almost apologetic as he responded, "What do you want me to say?"

" _Nothing_ ," Leia snapped. "I want you to say _nothing_."

Solo moaned as his body evacuated more carbonite from his system and Calrissian had to look away. Pretended he had found something that worried him about the helm system and bent to investigate it while Solo's friends figured out what they were going to do.

Skywalker must have finally convinced the princess to divert to his suggested stopover, because he approached Calrissian a moment later and instructed him on their course change. Lando was only too happy to comply and, not even half an hour later, pulled the skiff up along side an unremarkable dwelling on the mountainous edge of the great Dune Sea.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR.

Luke stood in the entrance to Kenobi's small house and looked out across the baking Tatooine landscape. It had been more than three years since he'd last stood here and Luke was feeling a little overwhelmed by the memories it evoked. Memories of his Aunt and Uncle, memories of his childhood. Memories of an old hermit he had known all too briefly.

Ben Kenobi's house was in much better condition than Luke had expected it to be. For a dwelling that had been so long vacant, Luke had expected to find it largely scavenged. Sandpeople and Jawas usually left nothing untouched. But, apart from some obvious small rodent signs and a layer of sand over everything, the house looked exactly as it had the day he and Kenobi had watched Leia's impassioned hologram. The same day his Aunt and Uncle had been killed by stormtroopers hunting the droids C3PO and R2D2. Grief for the only family he'd ever known welled up inside him and Luke sighed.

A new battle against grief was being waged inside the hut. The battle for Han Solo's life. The Corellian had been stripped and bathed while he drifted in and out of consciousness, then they had worked to stabilise his temperature for over an hour with little success. Finally, Luke had suggested they move the bed to one of the storage areas under the main living area as the temperature there was cooler and much less variable, and although Solo's condition had improved dramatically, his moments of lucidity had been brief and pain-filled. He never seemed to remember either, as each waking included the terror of rediscovering the fact that he was blind.

Luke had spent the last two hours with Leia, instructing her in what he knew of Force healing while he used it on Solo; all the while hoping it would trigger something in her. Once she overcame her reluctance to use the Force, Luke felt quite certain his sister could heal the Corellian. She had done it unconsciously to save him after the cave-in on Hoth. But _consciously_ letting herself go enough to let the Force flow through her was proving very difficult for Leia. Especially after her dabble with the Dark Side in Jabba's palace.

Despite having tended to the immediate requirements of the wound on his flank, Luke needed to work on healing his own injuries, and had finally come up for a break. He'd tried to convince Leia of her need for a break as well, but Leia had refused to leave Han. So Luke had left her to it. He was about to turn around and move back into the hut when Lando Calrissian stepped up beside him and wordlessly handed him a flask of water.

Luke accepted the flask and considered the man standing beside him. Water was such a commodity on Tatooine, to the point of being a viable currency, that it was an automatic reaction for Luke to regard Calrissian's offer as an attempt to buy his goodwill. Especially to someone who had grown up there and understood its value. He knew, and could understand, the issues that Leia and Chewbacca had with Lando Calrissian, but Luke felt confident that Calrissian was essentially a good man. He would not have been here otherwise.

"How's Han?" Lando asked, stepping out into the sunlight so he could watch Chewbacca violently shaking the sand out of various pieces of clothing. Leia had deemed Solo's clothes unsalvageable, and she and the Wookiee had scrounged up some of Kenobi's old robes for him to wear. Leia herself was wearing one already, which was a vast improvement on the metal bikini Jabba had forced her to wear.

"A lot better than he was," Luke assured him, moving to stand beside Calrissian and turning so that his back would take the brunt of the stinging sand whipped up by the breeze.

"That's good to hear."

Luke suspected Lando was hoping for some sort of absolution from him, but absolution was not something that was his to give. Nevertheless, he was prepared to give thanks where thanks were due. Lando had been a big help in Jabba's palace and Luke told him as much.

Calrissian accepted the thanks somewhat reluctantly, then added, "I'm not so sure you should have let that assassin go."

It took Luke a moment to comprehend that Lando was talking about the woman who had tried to stop them beside the skiff, and was surprised to realise he had dismissed her completely. Leia's reaction to her had disturbed him more than the woman herself. Luke shrugged. Killing in cold blood was not something he was prepared to do. If she was an assassin sent by the Emperor, no doubt their paths would cross again. And next time Luke intended to be better armed, physically _and_ mentally.

He sensed Leia's approach and turned as she reached the doorway, hoping she was there because she had changed her mind about taking a break. But she was holding a large blanket at arm's length, her expression pinched, exhausted and apologetic. Solo had thrown up again. Or soiled himself.

Luke took the blanket from her without question and asked, "Do you need help cleaning him up?"

The princess shook her head, avoiding meeting either man's gaze. "It's simpler if I get Chewie," she said, and moved past them towards the Wookiee.

Watching her as she stopped to talk to Chewbacca, Luke suspected Leia's nausea had worsened. Kenobi's sani was an archaic pit affair and, although the inherit dryness of the planet reduced the odours inevitable in such an enclosed space, simply using the 'fresher was exacerbating her morning sickness. Cleaning up Solo had proved very difficult for her, and Luke had tried to make things a little easier for her by making sure that he and Chewbacca did most of it.

Luke could hear the faint rumble of the Wookiee's speech, and suspected Chewbacca had voiced his concern for the princess' well being. Doubtless Leia was dismissing his worries, but Luke couldn't help wondering how long it would be before the Wookiee realised the princess was pregnant. And what his reaction would be.

"She's pregnant isn't she?"

Lando's words were so unexpected and his assumption so astute, Luke couldn't help looking at the dark-skinned man with some level of admiration as well as surprise. He could have denied it; could easily have blamed the princess's delicate stomach on stress, but Luke was too intrigued to know how Calrissian had figured it out so he simply replied evasively, "What makes you think that?"

"I thought so," Calrissian muttered. He glanced back at the Wookiee and the princess then regarded Luke with a gaze that was vaguely hostile. "And Chewie doesn't know," he surmised. "Chewie would never have let her come to Jabba's if he'd known." He shook his head at Luke. "How could _you_ let her come?" he hissed. "How could you let her risk-?"

" _Let_ her?" Luke repeated with vague amusement. The former administrator obviously had no comprehension of the strength of Leia's personality. Luke attempted to reason with the man, but Calrissian it seemed had decided to take the opportunity to rant.

"If you had _any_ comprehension of the sort of… _indignities_ she had to suffer at Jabba's hand," he started, "there is _no way_ you would have let-"

"I had a good idea what would happen if she was caught," Luke replied tightly, turning his gaze to the sunburned horizon once more.

"Then how could you let her come here?" Calrissian demanded hotly and Luke met his glare.

"For a start, Lando, I couldn't stop her. Leia would have come for Han with or without my help. Secondly, as I understand it, the indignities she suffered in _your_ city were at least as bad as anything she suffered in Jabba's palace."

Calrissian frowned. "What?"

"Imperial Surveillance," Luke reminded him, unsubtly.

"She told you about that?"

"Yes, she told me. I also saw it."

The former administrator looked suitably mortified. "On Vader's ship?"

"No. When we got back to the Rebel Alliance. It's doing the rounds of the galaxy as the latest porn favourite, Lando."

"You can't be serious."

"Very," Luke said, then scowled and added, "The Alliance leaders had a field day with it."

Calrissian cringed, wiped a hand across his forehead and moaned, "No wonder she hates me."

They fell silent as Leia and Chewbacca passed them on their way back into the hut, then he and Calrissian were forced to turn their faces away as a sudden wind blew up, stinging them with fine particles of sand. A moment later, an even stronger gust forced Lando to retreat back into the hut while Luke squinted into the rising wind with a deep sense of dread and foreboding. The tale on the western horizon fulfilled his worst fears. Sandstorm. A big one too. The sort that would keep them holed up for three days or more… He considered the emergency survival pack that Calrissian had scrounged from the skiff; they would have to ration drastically, but they would make it. At least they had water.

Luke knew Kenobi's house had an artesian bore; a boon that would normally have had the Tusken Raiders going to war with each other over it, then setting up a permanent fortress. He'd said as much to Kenobi the day the old Jedi had rescued him from the small band of Sandpeople that had attacked him. When Luke had commented on the lack of security around the old hermit's house, Kenobi had admitted to using the Sandpeople's own fears to keep them away. It said a lot about the superstitious nature of the Tatooine natives that they were still afraid of the area.

He hurried inside after Calrissian, wondering how he was going to break the news to Leia. Luke had wanted to search Kenobi's dwelling for data about the Jedi and, more particularly, for information about constructing a lightsabre. This latest development made finding such information imperative. There was no way they were going to get Solo to a medcentre in time. Not now. Force healing had become Solo's only hope for recovery and any information that could assist Luke in achieving that for his friend could not be underestimated.

Sparing one last glance for the approaching sandstorm as he shut the door, Luke couldn't help wondering if it had been some sort of Force inspired prescience that had made him insist on bringing them to Kenobi's. Luke was just grateful the sandstorm had not caught them in the sand skiff. None of them would have survived that.

xxxxxx

 _He's worried about me_ , Leia told herself as Chewbacca followed her through the hut and down the narrow stairwell to the small storage room where they were keeping Han. The underground cool was a welcome relief from the heat outside, and she took a long drink of water to rehydrate her throat then, flask in hand, turned and watched the Wookiee as he started cleaning up Solo. The room had a low ceiling, even by human standards, and the two metre tall Wookiee had to bend at the waist to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.

[Are you alright?] he asked, glancing at her as he matter-of-factly wiped the Corellian down.

Leia nodded, taking another swig from the flask. _He knows I'm unwell. Knows this is more than just-_ "Stress," she muttered evasively, eagerly anticipating the alleviation of the dreadful smell in the small room.

The Wookiee paused to study the unconscious form of his friend and partner, and his scrutiny exacerbated Leia's sense of failure to the point where she found herself selfishly wishing the hairy behemoth would leave. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and started gently tracing the contours on Solo's face with one finger, and Leia was mesmerised. The love inherent in his touch brought tears to her eyes. _This is all my fault_ , she told herself for the hundredth time, and wondered how the Wookiee could even stand to look at her.

As though sensing her thoughts, Chewbacca's clear blue eyes turned to study her once more and Leia turned away. Busied herself recapping the flask and putting it back on the shelf where they were storing the medications for Han. The supply of medication was almost exhausted and the urgent need to get Solo to a medcentre gripped her once more.

[How is he?] the Wookiee asked, returning to his task.

His voice was a low growl that made him harder to understand, but Leia felt confident guessing the content of his question and replied, "Improving." _Thanks to Luke._ "Han'll be fine once we get him to a medcentre," she added, more to reassure herself than him. She had been using the same litany to keep herself sane since Bespin. _Even the medbunk on the Falcon would be an improvement on this_ , she thought.

The Wookiee finished cleaning up then left the room to dispose of the cloth he had been using. While he was gone, Leia arranged a clean blanket along the edge of the bed and, when he returned, Chewbacca helped her get it under Solo.

Staring at Chewbacca's hands as he worked, Leia's eye was caught by the small scar on the inside of his left wrist. She had seen the scar before and had always assumed it to be a legacy of his enslavement; the result of binders or a wound of some sort. But, looking at it now, she realised it was actually a tattoo. She couldn't make out the design because his skin was so dark, but felt sure it was a code the Imperials had put there. A brand that would have made it easy for them to identify him.

Leia was so engrossed in her thoughts of sad outrage at what the Wookiee must have endured during his captivity that it was a moment before she realised Chewbacca's hands had stopped moving. That he was watching her and knew full well what she had been studying. Leia felt her cheeks burn with shame for invading his privacy.

"I'm sorry," she stammered.

[It's not what you think,] he said gently.

Leia met his eyes but said nothing.

[It's my bondage tattoo,] he said, offering his wrist for closer inspection.

"Bondage," Leia repeated, eyeing the tattoo with distaste. "Something the Imperials-"

She was cut off by Chewbacca chuckling and frowned as he shook his head, wondering how he could find it amusing.

[Bondage,] he repeated. [Bondage. Not bondage.]

Leia regarded him uncertainly. This was a language problem, she realised. She was not hearing a subtle difference in his intonation.

"Not bondage?"

The Wookiee shook his head, his eyes dancing with suppressed humour. [No,] he agreed. [Although a lot of Wookiees might disagree.]

He must have sensed that she still hadn't translated the word correctly, because he pointed to the tattoo and said, [Malla.]

Leia frowned, wondering what Chewbacca's wife had to do with it. "Malla?"

Chewbacca nodded enthusiastically and repeated, [Malla, Chewbacca, bondage.]

Abruptly it made sense. "Bonding!" Leia said, and smiled with relief and a little embarrassment. No wonder Chewbacca had been amused. "This is your bonding tattoo?"

Chewbacca nodded happily, pulling the hair away with his other hand so she could see the design better.

Her revulsion replaced by intense curiosity, Leia leaned in for a closer look and realised that what she had feared to be numerals or code was in fact an intricately patterned, winged serpent. The head of the serpent lay just off-centre on the Wookiee's wrist, the pulse flickering there giving it life. The body of the serpent was made up of many scales, which wound around the wrist itself several times. Much of the design was lost in his fur, but Leia could see enough to realise there was no end. The design was unfinished.

"Malla has one too?" she asked, tracing it with her finger.

[Yes,] he said, nodding. He pointed to a single scale and said, [One scale for each year.]

Leia met his eyes briefly then looked back at the design. "That's a lot of years," she said.

She turned his arm over, following the design as it wound around his wrist. The scales at the end of the snake stood out because of their depth of colour and she followed them back to the sudden change. Then realised with horror that it marked his enslavement. That the new scales had been added all at once after Solo had freed him. Leia estimated there were at least twenty new scales. The single wing was part of the new additions and Leia wondered what it might signify.

"Is it a usual part of Wookiee bonding?" she asked, trying to visualise a Wookiee wedding ceremony as she arranged a fresh cover over Solo.

Chewbacca nodded, then commented, [You look tired. Why don't you get some sleep while you can?]

 _Because I want to be ready to leave as soon as the first sun sets_ , Leia thought to herself, then sighed heavily and pulled up a box so she could sit beside the bed.

Chewbacca pulled up a box beside her then nudged her gently with his elbow and encouraged, [Get in beside Han; I'm sure he won't mind.] Then added, [And the body heat might help keep his temperature stable.]

Leia considered his suggestion seriously. It was very tempting. An hour's sleep, maybe two...

 _But_ _I should be trying to do the Jedi thing_ , she scolded herself. _Should be trying to use the Force to help Han heal._ Leia hugged herself, hunching over the arms crossing over her belly, and closed her eyes while her thoughts turned briefly to the child within. Then she opened her eyes and gazed at Solo's face, once again wondering how she would tell him.

The sound of footsteps coming down the narrow stairwell made them both look up as Luke stepped down into the room.

xxxxxx

Chewbacca knew from the expression on Luke's face that he was not bringing good news, smelled the spike of fear from the princess as she swiftly came to the same conclusion and felt her body tense in immediate response.

"What is it?" she asked sharply.

"Sandstorm," Luke answered simply, then added, "A big one."

Understanding full well what this implied, Chewbacca moaned his irritation at the helplessness of their situation, but Leia demanded stubbornly, "Which means?"

"Which means we won't be going anywhere any time soon," Luke told her matter-of-factly. "Two or three days at least."

Leia went very still and Chewbacca almost leaned away from her in anticipation of the inevitable explosion. Distress was radiating off her in waves, mingling with the other scents of fear, anger and a mix that was particularly Leia. All of them blending into a heady concoction that Chewbacca had come to recognise as the scent that heralded the princess going into battle. Familiar because she had so often exuded it around Solo.

"What about Han?" Leia demanded.

"Sandstorm doesn't care about Han," Luke answered facetiously, and Chewbacca found himself regarding the young man darkly. The comment was callous and, Chewbacca suspected, deliberately inflammatory. What was Luke trying to achieve by upsetting the princess?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Leia snapped.

"You can heal him, Leia, you've done it before-"

Chewbacca regarded the young man through narrowed eyes. Was Luke suggesting what Chewie thought he was suggesting? That the princess was Force sensitive?

Leia, on the other hand, was really angry. "If it's so damn easy why don't _you_ do it?!"

Chewbacca looked sharply at the princess. Leia had a smell that was distinctly _her_ ; all humans did, despite their inability to consciously read the information. He had been aware of a change in the princess' signature scent since finding her on Tatooine, but had been content to dismiss it as indicative of her time as Vader's captive, or as some leftover pheromone on the disguise she had used to get into Jabba's.

After Jabba's she had smelled like a Hutt, but now she was clean; wearing an old wrap that had belonged to Kenobi, and she smelled like...

Chewbacca took a deep breath through his nose, unable to believe what it was telling him.

"I am doing it, Leia," he dimly heard Luke say. "But that's not where my strengths lie."

The Wookiee leaned down, putting his nose close to her neck, and once again breathed deeply. Leia pulled away from him a little, distantly irritated, while Luke added, "You, on the other hand, succeeded spectacularly on Hoth-"

[You smell like milk!] Chewbacca accused loudly, sniffed her again then boomed, [You're _breeding_!]

He wanted to get to his feet, wanted to intimidate her with his height, but the low ceiling forced him to remain seated. Nevertheless, Leia looked up at him with clear shock and confusion, and for a moment Chewbacca thought she didn't know.

"What?" she said automatically.

Then a defensive expression took up residence on her face as she translated what he'd said and Chewbacca _knew_ she was aware. Had been aware the whole time. Had willingly put not just herself, but the child within her in _mortal_ danger. Han's child. It had to be...

[Are you _insane_?] he bellowed.

"What?"

Leia shook her head and this time Chewbacca knew she hadn't understood the word.

[ _Broken_ ,] he rephrased, indicating his head at the same time, the inflection in his voice suggesting he was speaking to an infant. The princess got the message and her body language suggested to Chewie that she thought she deserved it.

[You knew before you even came to Tatooine, didn't you?] he surmised angrily, then barked, [How could you put your child at such risk?] Then added for emphasis, [ _Han's_ child.]

Leia was not giving him the satisfaction of a reply so Chewbacca turned to Luke and demanded, [How could you let her?]

Luke looked to Leia, who sighed then translated flatly, "He wants to know how you could be irresponsible enough to allow a pregnant woman on this rescue team."

Luke's expression shifted to one of irritated affront. "You really think I could have stopped her?"

Leia interjected flatly, "I knew exactly what I was doing."

Chewbacca got the distinct impression that the princess was talking about more than the risk rescuing Han had posed to herself and her unborn child. Felt sure she had encompassed the child's conception in her remark. But surely she hadn't _planned_ the pregnancy? Han would have a fit!

It suddenly occurred to the Wookiee that Leia had doubtless been interrogated after they were captured over Tatooine. Probably by Vader himself. And while the thought of her undergoing Imperial interrogation was bad enough, the idea that she had been pregnant throughout the ordeal did not bear contemplating. That the pregnancy had survived something of that magnitude was perhaps indicative of why Leia had felt secure coming to Tatooine. On a relative scale, Vader was a much greater risk to a person's health than Jabba.

Chewbacca's almost instinctive concern for Leia's well-being spiked to a new level and prompted him to ask sharply, [Did Vader hurt you?]

The sudden surge in fear and distress pheromones from the princess suggested a very big 'yes', and triggered a truly repulsive thought in the Wookiee. A scenario that forced him to consider the possibility that _Vader_ might have fathered the child Leia was carrying rather than Han. Chewbacca had no idea whether or not Vader was physically capable of accomplishing such a thing, but it filled him with horror nonetheless. Could he have failed Han's entreaty to keep her safe her so badly?

Then the tell-tale scents vanished abruptly, smothered by her automatic defence system, and an unusually cold calm settled over her. Which prompted a surprising reaction from Luke.

"I felt that!" he told her sharply.

"Felt what?" Leia asked.

"You're using anger as a defence mechanism," Luke said, and Chewbacca watched the young man's face carefully as his gaze briefly became unfocussed and introspective. A moment later Luke muttered his realisation aloud, "You always have."

For as long as Chewbacca had known the little princess, anger had always been her way of coping, and he couldn't help feeling surprised that Luke had only just recognised this fact. It was the one emotion she deemed acceptable and permitted herself to express. Fear and vulnerability were signs of weakness to her, and weakness was something Leia _never_ let herself show. Not unlike a certain Corellian. But, instead of anger, Solo's defence mechanism had always been arrogant cynicism.

Leia opened her mouth to protest but Luke cut her off by meeting her gaze and adding meaningfully, "Just like our father."

 _Our_ father? Chewbacca frowned unhappily at Luke and growled deep in his throat. Just before they'd been captured Luke had told them that _Vader_ was his father. He smelled Leia's anger and battle preparedness flare in response to the comment, which animated Luke even more.

"You have to stop," Luke told her in a tone that brooked no argument. " _Now_." He moved a step closer to her, almost threatening, and said firmly, "Let the anger go."

If anything the defiance in the princess' body language deepened and Chewbacca sensed Luke was desperate for her to understand how close to the edge she was.

"Stop it!" the young man insisted, then played a card Chewbacca suspected he had been holding in reserve. "I _know_ you can feel it, Leia. I can feel it; _she_ can feel it. What do you think that'll do to her?" Uncertainty and fear replaced the defiance in Leia's eyes and Luke encouraged, "You _have_ to let it go, Leia. _Please_. You won't be able to help Han until you do."

Chewbacca looked at the princess, trying to assimilate what felt like a barrage of information. Had he heard Luke correctly? Was he implying that Vader was Leia's father too? That could explain the Force abilities Luke had been alluding to; would in fact make the young man and the Alderaanian princess siblings.

[She?] the Wookiee queried gently, hoping to defuse the tension by focusing on the fact that Leia was apparently carrying a female child.

Leia hunched over her knees, hugging herself, and hiding behind the curtain of her hair. Chewbacca sensed she was weeping despite her efforts not to.

Luke pulled up a box to sit beside her; tried to put a comforting arm around her, but the princess leapt to her feet, refusing to let him touch her, and yelled at him, "You come down here with news that will practically _kill_ Han, tell me I am his _only_ hope, and expect me not to get _angry_?!"

"Leia-"

"How _dare_ you?" she sobbed, " _How_ _ **dare**_ _you?_ " Luke reached for her, back on his feet and making placating sounds, but Leia backed away, refusing to be consoled. "You tell me to use the Force, then tell me I'll turn into Vader and corrupt my daughter! What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry," Chewbacca heard Luke murmur, and sensed the young Jedi was feeling emotional too. "You have to be _calm_ -" he tried to reason with her, and Chewbacca wasn't the slightest bit surprised when Leia glared at Luke like she wanted to hit him. But Luke said firmly, "You _have_ to let the anger go."

They faced off for a moment, then Luke turned and headed out of the room and up the stairs. Chewbacca watched as Leia, cut off from venting her anger at Luke, glanced back at him, and then at Solo. The sight of Solo was the final straw it seemed, because she abruptly crumbled emotionally, covered her face with her hands and sobbed helplessly.

[Little Princess,] Chewbacca rumbled soothingly as he pulled her into his arms. Cradled her like a child while she wept. Then, as he had suggested earlier, he encouraged her to get into bed beside Solo, assuring her that she needed the rest, and that sleep could only help what self-healing the tears had begun.

Leia did not comment on his diagnosis, nor did she protest when he tucked her in beside her lover. She continued to cry quietly for a while, and Chewbacca remained sitting beside her, gently stoking her head until she finally fell asleep.

He studied the two of them for a long moment, a veritable cyclone of questions whirling around in his head. Chewbacca wanted answers and decided he was going to sit on Luke until he got them. He understood, with some irritation, that he would need Lando to act as translator but, although unfortunate it was probably wiser to have him understanding what was going on anyway.

With one final look at the sleeping pair, Chewbacca got to his feet and went to find Luke.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE.

Solo woke and opened his eyes to darkness. There wasn't a part of his body that didn't ache and his head was a maelstrom of confusion. Shifting a little, he gauged that he was lying in a bed; could feel the roughness of the bedclothes against his skin, and tried to remember where he was.

He couldn't, and moved a little more in the hope that it would give him more data without putting himself at risk. There was a body beside him. He could tell by the depression of the mattress and the bedclothes. And, now that he concentrated, he could hear her breathing.

Her?

 _Leia_.

He knew it was her. Didn't know how he knew, but he was sure.

Solo tentatively moved his arm out from under the bedclothes. The air felt cool and he retreated back into the warmth of the covers, reached out and touched the warm body beside him.

 _Leia_.

Memories of her in his bunk on the _Falcon_ came to the fore and for a moment he assumed that was where they were. Although it wasn't usually this dark in his cabin. Maybe the lights had failed? He ignored the painful protesting of his joints as he rolled to embrace her. Pulled her against him and revelled in the feel of her body spooned against his.

The fact that she wasn't naked flummoxed him a little, but he was slightly reassured when running his hand across her hip enabled him to slide it in underneath the wrap she was wearing.

He slid his hand across her stomach, enjoying the warm, silken feel of her skin as his hand travelled upwards, as well as the anticipation of cupping the delicious, soft fullness of her breast. The breast was fuller than he expected, and much firmer.

Leia stiffened and Solo frowned. He had the distinct feeling he'd forgotten something. Something important.

"Han?"

Her voice was hesitant. Whispering.

"You were expecting someone else?" he rumbled into her hair.

She rolled over to face him and Solo adjusted himself accordingly, straightening his legs and readjusting the covers to accommodate the changes. He still couldn't see her face in the darkness and voiced his concern.

"Why is it so dark in here?"

Solo felt her hand caress his face and smiled. Then he heard her say, "It isn't," and felt a deep-seated panic blossom in his gut.

"You have hibernation sickness," she continued, running her hands over his skin and reassuring him with her touch.

It was marginally effective. Solo remained where he was instead of leaping out of the bed in a literal blind panic. Disconnected images were flashing through his brain. Images that were meaningless yet terrifying.

"Your eyesight will return in time."

 _How much time?_

"Where are we?" he asked, unable to disguise the tension in his voice, and heard her sigh.

"We're still on Tatooine," she said softly.

"Tatooine?!" Now he did sit up. "How the hell did we get to Tatooine?!" _What the hell had happened to him and why couldn't he remember?_ "I thought we were heading for Bespin!"

There was a long pause, then Leia finally said, "That was over a month ago."

" _What_?"

"Vader was waiting for us on Bespin," she explained. "He had you frozen in carbonite and delivered to Jabba."

Solo's blindness had made him hypersensitive to the inflections in her voice. He could hear the tremor. Something terrible had happened.

"Why can't I remember?" he demanded.

"You've suffered a major physical trauma, Han. It's not uncommon for there to be memory loss."

Physical trauma? That explained the pain he was feeling.

"Vader had me frozen?"

"Yes."

"What'd he do to you?"

"Nothing."

Solo could hear the evasiveness in her voice. It was definitely _not_ nothing.

"Put me in a cell," she continued. "Luke helped me escape."

" _Luke_? Where'd _he_ come from?"

"It's a long story, Han."

She sounded horribly tired, but he needed to know.

"Leia…"

"I need to use the 'fresher," she said, deliberately changing the subject, and he felt her leave the bed. "Do you want to try getting up or would you rather use a bottle?"

"A bottle?" It took Solo a moment to process what she meant, then a wave of disgust settled over him. Just how helpless had he been and for how long?

Leia must have seen his reaction and understood his need for some dignity because she said quickly, "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Solo listened to her move out of the room and tried to ignore the stabbing pains in all his joints as he shifted to the edge of the bed. He could hear Leia talking to someone in another room but couldn't recognise the voice. Damn it, why wouldn't she just tell him what the hell was going on?

 _Nearly a month._ He had been frozen for nearly a month.

He thought he heard Chewbacca's distinctive rumble and swung his legs off the bed preparatory to getting up, but he didn't fancy wandering around naked as well as blind. He heard someone enter the room and, assuming it was Leia, asked, "Why don't I have any clothes on?"

[They were a mess,] he heard Chewbacca say. [We had to throw them out.]

"Chewie!" he said, relief and delight at the sound of his best friend's voice tempering his confusion. Had he been frozen fully clothed? Every other cryogenic facility he'd heard of insisted on the patient being naked.

[Hello, cub,] the Wookiee growled affectionately, and Solo felt fabric settle across his shoulders. Catching on, he helped Chewbacca feed his arms into the sleeves of the garment then felt large, strong hands under his arms, helping him to his feet.

Blindness aside, Solo felt the world spin, and was deeply grateful for his friend's support. But he couldn't stop himself from hissing as pins and needles, more painful than he had never experienced, shot up his legs the minute he put his weight on his feet.

Determined not to give in, Solo distracted himself from the pain by asking, "Who else is here?"

[Luke and Lando,] Chewbacca replied, helping him walk.

" _Lando_?!" A bizarre feeling of deja-vous assailed Solo and he paused. What was Lando doing here and why did thinking about his old friend fill him with rage? "Leia-"

"I'm right here, Han," he heard her say from somewhere nearby.

Then Chewbacca was directing him into the sani, helping him to sit and stopping him from falling off as dizziness took hold once more. Solo groaned; a vague protest at the indignity of needing so much assistance. His head had started to throb.

[It is good to see you up and about,] Chewbacca rumbled softly.

"I feel _terrible_ ," Solo moaned.

By the time Chewbacca was helping him back into bed, the pain had become quite profound and Solo wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep. But it seemed Leia had other ideas.

"I brought you some water," he heard her say as she sat beside him. "You need to drink."

"I need to know what's going on," Solo replied tersely, but he sat up a little and let her help him drink.

The water felt wonderful going down, and he emptied the cup. Then it hit his stomach and started doing something nasty. Leia tried to get him to drink more, but he shook his head.

"Han, you have to drink."

"I'll be fine."

"Han, I don't have another infuser; you have to drink."

She had used an infuser on him already? Just how sick was he and how long had they been here? Where was here for that matter? Solo let her help him drink again, but made sure he only took a small sip. If anything, the protest from his stomach was even worse this time.

He lay down in an attempt to find some relief, but it didn't help. Vader had been waiting for them on Bespin. Had captured them. Had Leia been tortured? What had his stupid ship cost him this time? _Why wouldn't she tell him?_

Solo groaned into his arms as he felt her caress his head. "Everything hurts," he growled. _My body, my head, my heart… What'd he_ _ **do**_ _to you?!_

"I'll get you something for the pain," she said, and he felt her leave the bed.

"That'd be good," he said flatly.

She didn't go far, and he listened to the distinctive sounds of her charging a hypo with a pressurised cylinder. Felt the cool of the metal as she pressed it against his neck.

"Ow!" he complained irritably as it discharged, then berated himself as she apologised. She was only trying to help him.

[What's the last thing you remember, Han?]

Chewbacca's voice seemed to come from a long way away, and Solo shook his head, afraid to answer the Wookiee in case his stomach really started to protest against the water.

"Do you remember landing on Cloud City?" Leia asked.

He shook his head.

"Do you remember leaving Hoth?"

Solo considered for a moment, then nodded. He had started to wonder whether the memories he had of Leia in his bunk were simply wishful thinking, then decided that, from the way Leia had been letting him touch her, they must have been real.

He wanted to reach out to her, but not moving was less painful.

"Leia…" he murmured.

He felt her hands cup his face, almost flinched at the strength of her grip, and her lips met his in a kiss that was anything but gentle. Desperation was the first description that leapt to mind, and Solo wanted to back off a little, but suddenly found himself struggling to get his thoughts into some sort of order. He'd wanted to ask her something and now he couldn't remember what it was. What had she been saying?

"Painkiller's kicking in," he heard her murmur, and Solo wasn't sure he knew what she was talking about. He tried to respond, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of garbled grunt.

"Don't fight it, Han."

Her voice seemed to come from a long way away, yet he could feel her hand caressing his face.

 _What a waste_ , he thought, dimly aware that her lips were touching his again. He'd never been able to comprehend painkillers that just put you to sleep. What was the point if you weren't awake to enjoy the pain-free time?

xxxxxx

Leia felt Solo's lips go slack beneath hers and moved back a little so she could focus on his face. Studying him, aware of the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, Leia wasn't sure that the expression on his face was one she could call peaceful. She thought he simply looked unconscious. But at least he was out of pain. For the moment anyway.

Chewbacca rumbled something that she didn't quite catch, squeezed her shoulder in a reassuring way, then left the room.

Guilt that she had not yet managed to determine or identify whatever it was that had triggered her ability to heal Solo on Hoth assailed Leia once again, and was tinged with panic. Leia knew that fear was her greatest problem. She was afraid of failing, yet even more afraid of succeeding. Afraid of using the Force successfully and falling to the Dark Side in the process. . Why was she able to heal so effectively when Luke, who was far more experienced with the Force, couldn't? It just didn't make sense.

Leia lay down and ran a hand lightly along the side of Solo's face; closed her eyes and listened to the soft rumble of male voices from the room above to stop herself from thinking about it. Turned her thoughts to the child growing inside her.

 _Divided your attention is. Hard for you to focus will it be._

Yoda had certainly been correct about that. Nevertheless, as Luke was incessantly pointing out, she _had_ healed Solo on Hoth.

"I wasn't pregnant last time," she mumbled softly, and closed her eyes while she sought out the comforting presence of her daughter. _Little Organa-Solo_ , she thought fondly, mentally caressing the child and using the title the medic, Gizela Shalleron, had given her with some amusement.

 _Or should it have been Skywalker-Solo?_ Leia wondered suddenly, opening her eyes and staring at Solo's profile.

 _No!_ she thought defiantly. That would be giving her biological father far more recognition than he deserved! Leia allowed herself a small moment of smug satisfaction; infinitely pleased that her daughter was carrying the name of the man Leia had always considered to be her _real_ father.

Smiling softly to herself, and comforted by the gentle innocence of her daughter, Leia snuggled against Solo and told the child growing inside her, _This is your_ _ **daddy**_. And, for the first time since they'd rescued him, allowed herself to feel joy that Han was there beside her. _Alive_.

Half asleep and deep in the flow of the Force, Leia instinctively reached out to Solo and, instead of trying to heal him, satisfied herself with simply loving him.

xxxxxx

Sitting across from Chewbacca and Calrissian, regarding them with an air of endurance while they 'interrogated' him about his familial connections to Darth Vader and Leia Organa, Luke felt it. Felt a deep stirring in the Force and knew at once what it was. He looked at the others with a mixture of shock and delight, saw confusion on their faces, and couldn't stop himself from grinning.

She had done it! Somehow Leia had overcome her anxiety and was healing Han. Without a word of explanation to Lando or Chewie, Luke rose and hurried downstairs.

Leia appeared to be asleep which, Luke decided, made sense. That was when her defences were at their lowest, and she was able to tap into the Force without fear clouding her instinct. Yet, as he let his Force sense join hers, Luke felt another sentience helping, and, with wonder, realised it was Leia's child. A whisper of concern flashed across his mind; that the child was too young, that such an exposure to the Force could be draining or detrimental in some way. For a fleeting moment he considered blocking the child somehow, and was shocked to feel an instinctive response from her. A response that told Luke in no uncertain terms that she would push him away if necessary; throw him out of the link, and Luke hastily reassured her. He could consider the ramifications later. Right now Han needed all the help he could get.

Closing his eyes to aid his focus, Luke sat on the end of the bed, rested a hand on Solo's foot, and felt the healing power of the Force flow though him.

xxxxxx

Chewbacca followed Luke down the stairs, watching as he sat on the end of the bed, rested one hand on Solo, and seemed to go into a sort of trance. Leia and Solo both appeared to be asleep. Deciding they'd be best left alone, Chewbacca went back to make sure Calrissian didn't interrupt.

xxxxxxx

Luke woke with a start. He'd been dreaming about Sandpeople and felt genuinely alarmed. He sat up, momentarily confused, and a sharp pain in his side brought the memories of the day before into sharp clarity.

"It's alright," he heard Lando say quietly from the room above, "they're not stopping." Chewbacca rumbled a soft reply and then Luke heard it again: the distinct bellow of a bantha.

So he hadn't just dreamt it; there were Sandpeople out there. He'd wondered how long it would take them to notice that Kenobi's hut was inhabited again. And now it seemed they'd decided to use the cover of the sandstorm to check it out.

From the soft light in the room, he could see that Han and Leia were still sleeping, and hurried up the stairs without disturbing them. Chewie and Calrissian were silhouettes in the doorway, both wearing goggles and fabric over their faces against the stinging sand, and both had their weapons drawn.

"How many?" Luke whispered, shielding his face with his hand as he joined them in the doorway.

"Ten or so," Lando replied.

"Ten that you _saw_?" Luke clarified, deciding that, if Lando had seen ten, there would be at least twenty, probably thirty.

"Can't see _anything_ in _**that**_ ," Lando tossed back, indicating the sand storm. "We're just going on what Chewie's _heard_."

 _In that case there were probably only ten_ , Luke thought, and stepped back out of the doorway to consider their best option. Maintaining Kenobi's aura of fear would be ideal, but Luke was not sure if he could pull that off. It would require him to plant a suggestion in the minds of the Sandpeople; a feat he had managed on Vader's ship to help Leia and himself escape. But Imperials were trained not to question their superiors, so it had been easy to trick them into believing that he and Leia were 'somebody else's problem.' Sandpeople, on the other hand, were deeply suspicious _and_ superstitious. Their survival depended on them being on the alert for anything new or unusual. And _everything_ was considered hostile until proven otherwise.

How in the world could he make them believe he was a kryatt dragon as Kenobi had?

Chewbacca growled suddenly and they all saw the shadow pass quickly in front of the door. Lando _shushed_ him anxiously, but inspiration struck Luke.

"No," he said, grabbing Chewie's arm, "do it again!"

"Are you insane?!" Lando hissed, but Chewbacca didn't hesitate; he roared at the entrance and, using the Force, Luke amplified his roar, adding a yell of his own to double the effect. He could feel the Sandpeople through the Force now, and their fear was palpable. He brushed their minds, filling them with the urge to flee; heard the banthas bellowing in response. And could almost see Yoda scowling at him for doubting himself and the Force.

The Sandpeople had fled, and Luke couldn't quite hide his slightly smug smile as he retreated back into the hut.

xxxxxx

Leia was touching him, her fingertips grazing every millimetre of his skin until his whole body was literally humming with desire. There had been pain before, he knew that, but each touch of her fingers seemed to chase it away like ever expanding ripples on water. He could feel her lips too; against his forehead, on his throat and now, ever so sweetly, trailing along his collar bone. And, despite enjoying every caress, he ached for her to hurry up and get to his groin. The ache forced a level of consciousness to the surface, and Solo filled his lungs, savouring the fresh air, but noting its warmth and dryness. Leia was spooned against his back, and he rolled to face her; sleepily embraced her and pressed his nose to the top of her head. She smelled… _Spicy_. Dusty, sandy, a layer of body odour that made her even more desirable, and… _Spicy_.

Curiosity piqued, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Some of her hair was across her face and he gently pushed it aside. Glanced past her to take in the small room softly lit by a single luma. Not the _Falcon_ , which disturbed him because he couldn't remember where they were or why, but the fact that she was here with him, like this, was reassuring.

He ran his hand up her back then threw off the blanket that had been covering them both. They were both wearing the same sort of robe. Solo started kissing her face and opening her robe; needed to feel her warm skin under his lips and fingers, could tell she was about to wake up, but couldn't stop kissing her, touching her. Leia smiled sleepily, and gave a soft murmur of approval. Encouraged, Solo's kisses got stronger, between her breasts and up her neck as he leaned over her, pressing her against the bed. Her arms snaked around his neck and pulled him closer, opened his robe and traced lines of fiery desire across his skin. Kisses deepened. A knee between her knees, a gentle familiar shift of bodies.

Leia opened her eyes: those big, dark, liquid eyes that he'd often thought he could happily drown in, and looked at him. Solo smiled and said softly, "Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

Leia frowned at him, her eyes fluttering over his face as she said, "Han?"

"Hey…" he said. Vaguely alarmed at her reaction and wanting to lose himself making love to her, he resumed kissing her.

But she pushed away from him a little and said, "You can see me?"

That made him frown, because a part of him could almost remember not being able to see…

"Of course I can," he started to say, but she cut him off, "Han!" Leia's hand rested against his face. Her voice sounded dry, and full of emotion. "You're all right? _You're all right?_ "

"I'm fine," he said, and resumed nibbling her neck, hoping they could get back to the good stuff. "Better than I've felt in ages actually," he assured her in what he hoped was his most sultry voice.

"Han!" She clutched him to her, hugged him desperately, then pulled back a little so she could look at him again. "I thought I was going to lose you! And then Luke said the sandstorm… and I thought…I thought…" Tears sprang in her eyes and Solo stopped what he was doing. Something had happened. He couldn't remember, but _something_ had happened. Something…bad.

He realised he could hear voices nearby, perhaps in the next room. Male voices in quiet conversation but couldn't make out words. Chewie's distinctive rumble was there too, which was reassuring, but it clarified there would be no rolling under the covers with Leia. Not here. He started to move off her, but Leia stopped him; clung to him desperately, while she cried silently.

"Leia," he said, gently. She had tightened her grip on him and was kissing the side of his face, wetly. "Leia, what's happened?"

"I love you," she said into his ear. Heartfelt.

"I love you too," he assured her, moving onto his side without letting her go. "But I really want to know what's going on." He looked at the room they were in again. "Where the hell are we?"

Abruptly Leia seemed to pull herself together; she sat up, wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I told you," he said, hoping the impatience he was feeling was not apparent in his voice. "I feel fine. What's going on?"

Leia touched his face, her hand shaking, then gasped and looked like she was going to be sick.

"Oh no…I'll be right back," she said, then lurched out of the bed and hurried out of the room holding her robe closed.

"Leia!" he called after her, and clambered out of the bed too; had just got to his feet when the sound of someone hurrying down the stairs stopped him following her.

Chewbacca burst into the room and the look in his eyes reminded Solo strongly of the Wookiee's reaction after the cave-in on Hoth. When he had nearly died. Come to think of it, Leia's reaction had been uncannily similar too…

He managed to close his robe and say "Chewie?" before he was enveloped in a great Wookiee hug. Any protests were smothered against Chewbacca's chest and the Wookiee kept repeating, [She did it! She did it!]

When he was finally released, Solo saw that Luke had come into the room behind Chewbacca, along with –

"Lando?"

Lando was looking at him like he'd seen a ghost, fear and trepidation all over his face. Then Leia stepped back into the room, her face pale and tear-stained, and Solo forgot all about Lando. He opened his arms to her, uncaring of what the others might think, and she stepped into his embrace and clung to him. Something momentous had happened; something terrible. Something that had almost cost his life. And Leia had saved him, just as she had on Hoth.

He looked over her head at Chewie, whose eyes were dancing with guarded happiness, then at Luke. Luke's expression was nothing short of jubilant.

"So," Solo said, casting about for some way of lightening what was promising to be a dangerously serious moment, "where the hell are we? And what's to eat? I feel like I haven't eaten for a month!"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX.

What weren't they telling him? Sitting on the low wall beside Kenobi's hut in the late afternoon, watching them ready the skiff for the journey to Mos Eisley, Solo found himself with nothing to do but…think. They had refused to let him help, so he had been left at the mercy of his thoughts. Which were not particularly merciful at the moment. There was a great big nothing where the last month should have been; a month stolen by Vader and Boba Fett. And Lando.

Fucking _Lando_.

And they weren't telling him what had happened. Sure, they told him he'd been frozen on Bespin and carted off to Jabba by Boba Fett, and Luke, Leia and Chewie had been captured by Vader (and Vader had cut Luke's hand off in a lightsabre fight!) but how the hell did they get away from Vader? Why the _hell_ would Vader just _let them go_? It irked and infuriated Solo that his _friends_ thought _he_ was stupid enough to believe that. What the fuck weren't they telling him? And why the fuck was _Lando_ here?! He may not remember what had happened, but the thought of what Leia must have gone through thanks to Lando was enough to enrage Solo beyond reason. _Vader_. _Jabba the Hutt_. And then the rage would all spiral back on himself – because it was all _his_ fault for taking them to Bespin in the first place. _His_ fault for trusting a 'friend' he had stopped trusting ten fucking years ago! What had he been thinking? And what the hell had Vader done to Leia?

He was momentarily distracted from the maelstrom of his thoughts by Luke walking past _levitating_ a large trunk ahead of himself. Solo felt sure he'd seen at least one race with that sort of ability in the past, but seeing _Luke_ do it was creeping him out completely. Luke had explained that it was the Force, and Solo understood that, but that didn't make it any easier to come to grips with when he just… _flaunted_ it like that.

Luke was taking as much of Kenobi's stuff as he could fit into the skiff with them. Assuming it could teach him something, Solo guessed. But Solo felt deeply suspicious of all of it, and sensed Leia wasn't entirely happy about it either. As far as Han was concerned, the further away they could get from the old wizard's house, the happier he'd be. It was bad enough that he had to wear the old man's clothes! The fact that Leia had to wear them as well took some of the sting out, except that then he was reminded that Jabba had made her his _slave girl_ … And she refused to show him what the Hutt had made her wear.

Fucking _Lando_.

"Hey."

Solo started guiltily, and turned to find Leia standing beside him. He smiled and hastily tried to rearrange his thoughts, reassuring himself that she didn't know what he was thinking about and… why was she looking at Lando? He felt her hand slide into his and looked down at it as their fingers laced.

"Why is Lando here?" he growled.

"He helped us rescue you from Jabba's," Leia admitted. "He and Chewie were shipped out to Kessell after we were captured. I don't know much about it, except that they took over the transport and came here to find you."

So Vader had turned on Lando too? Good. Serve the bastard right for selling them out. Lando was damn lucky Chewie hadn't killed him.

"Luke and I ran into Chewie in Mos Eisley," she continued. "Lando had got himself into Jabba's palace as a guard and was making sure nothing happened to you while he figured out the best way to get you out of there. Then we arrived… and now we're here."

Solo's thoughts whirled back to Jabba, and then Vader, and then Leia suffering. Then met her gaze and pulled her into an embrace.

"Not much longer," she told him. "Then we can go."

 _Go where?_ he wanted to say, but didn't. Where were they going once they got to the _Falcon_? Back to the Rebel Alliance? Did Luke or Leia even know where the Rebs were now? What if Vader had come looking for them? Had followed them to Tatooine... Solo tightened his embrace, and lay his cheek against the top of her head.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Uh oh, he thought, as she led him away from the hut until they were well out of earshot of the others. Solo hoped this meant he was about to get some answers. And that he _liked_ them.

Kenobi's hut was perched on the edge of a rock crevasse, and Leia led him along the edge of it a little way until they reached an area shaded by a rocky outcrop. Leaning against the stone, she unhooked the bottle of water from her belt and drank deeply. Solo settled beside her and waited.

"Do you remember the cave in on Hoth?" she asked.

"The one that nearly killed us?" Solo replied wryly.

Leia nodded. "Gizela told us you were dying…"

"And Luke thinks you did something to bring me back to life," Solo recited a little irritably. This was old news.

"Not bring you back to life, no," Leia clarified. "But _heal_ you to keep you alive-"

He cut her off, waving previously frost-bitten fingers at her. "I remember." He curbed his ire, then glanced apologetically at her and watched her swallow uncomfortably. "Was Luke right? Was it you?"

Leia nodded, but wouldn't look at him.

"I'm very grateful," he added.

"So am I," she agreed.

"And…that's what you did last night?"

Leia nodded.

"So, you're like Luke?"

Leia swallowed, but nodded. Solo waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be stuck. He wished she'd get to the point. So what if she was like Luke? The kid could be creepy sometimes, but most of the time he was just like the rest of them.

"The Force?" he clarified.

"Luke helped," Leia said hastily. "I couldn't have done it without him."

Solo got the feeling she was trying to distance herself from the achievement, and frowned. "You did it without him on Hoth," he pointed out.

Leia responded by covering her face with her hands, and Solo felt irritated. This was getting them nowhere.

"Leia, what's going on? Just tell me. The suns are setting; they're gonna come looking for us in a minute-"

"I'm pregnant."

"You're…" Solo felt like he'd been punched. He floundered mentally for a moment, then said, "You're _what_?"

"Gizela checked your bloods after Hoth," Leia said hurriedly. "It seems whatever I did to save you after the cave in, ended up washing all the contraceptive out of your system."

Solo opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"I'm sorry," she added.

Solo stared at the crevasse edge a few metres away and felt like he'd been hurled over it. All his precautions and reassurances to Leia that he couldn't get her pregnant…He'd even failed her there.

"Sorry?" he frowned.

"It's not your fault…"

He regarded her incredulously. " _Then who's is it_?"

"Mine."

"You got _yourself_ pregnant?" he said sarcastically.

"I _healed_ you, Han." She shrugged. "Made you fertile. I don't want you to feel…"

" _Responsible_?"

Solo stalked to the edge of the crevasse, deeply hurt that Leia seemed to believe he was that shallow. That he would rather fly off than…. Memories of their weeks on the Falcon assailed him; of her happiness as well as his own. A dream. All turned to nightmare on Bespin, which _he_ couldn't even remember!

He turned and regarded her hotly. "What happened on Bespin?"

"We told you-"

"I was frozen. Vader chopped off Luke's hand. What happened to YOU?"

"I told you: Vader made me watch them torture you-"

"And then? On Coruscant? The Emperor?"

Leia opened her mouth to speak but the full impact of his failure seemed to hit Solo, and he yelled, "I WAS SUPPOSED TO KEEP YOU SAFE!" His voice echoed across the canyon.

"You did!" Leia assured him, reaching for him, but Solo wasn't in the mood to be reassured or comforted.

"Oh, _obviously_!" He wanted to vent his rage at himself, to hit something. Picked up a rock and hurled it angrily across the crevasse. Watched it clatter unsatisfying to the bottom, then hurled another with the same result.

"Han," Leia said, grabbing his hands. "Han, listen to me! Han, you _did_ keep me safe!" she insisted. "The only reason Palpatine didn't kill me on the spot was because I was pregnant and he wants the child!"

Solo's face twisted, " _What_?"

"He's a Sith Lord, like Vader! I didn't even know I was pregnant, but _he_ knew! They did tests-"

"What the fuck does the Emperor want with a _baby_?" His revulsion was swiftly turning to anger and the realisation that Leia had once more suffered Imperial torture, albeit of a different kind, filled him with impotent rage. "To _eat_ it?"

"Another Sith. Like Vader."

Solo was rendered speechless. Shook his head, opened his mouth, but had no idea what to say and shut it again. He didn't think he could feel more devastated. What had he put her through? What had his stupid decision-

 _Fucking_ _**Lando**_!

xxxxxxx

Chewbacca saw Solo sprinting towards the skiff; read the rage and intention in his body language, and looked hastily at Calrissian. At the other end of the skiff, Lando was bent over, tying down the last of the crates. Chewbacca considered warning him, then decided not to intervene. The boat dipped slightly as Solo leapt aboard, and Chewbacca watched Calrissian straighten and turn towards Solo in time to be punched full in the face. Lando staggered and fell back against the cargo he'd been bending over moments before, undoubtedly seeing stars.

"Get up!" Solo yelled at him. Chewbacca noticed Leia hurry round the side of Kenobi's hut, take in what was happening and stop.

Calrissian held his hands up, his eyes unfocussed, and his response was automatic. "Han, wait, I can explain-"

Flooded with rage, Solo yanked Calrissian to his feet and punched him again. Calrissian flailed, raised his arms defensively, and Solo responded by punching him in the stomach. Calrissian doubled over, groaning, "Han, I'm sorry!"

Chewbacca was reminded vividly of their detention cell on Bespin, but this time there were no stormtroopers or guards to cut Han down or rescue Calrissian. But Calrissian wasn't defending himself either.

"You fucking sonofabitch!" Solo yelled, hitting him again.

"I'm sorry!" Calrissian yelled back. "I had no fucking choice!"

"No _choice_?" There was the sound of crunching bone as Solo's fist broke Lando's nose.

"You Spiced-up fuckwit!" Calrissian collapsed back against the crates, blood all over his face. "What are you trying to do, _kill_ me?"

"Don't tempt me!"

"You broke my nose!"

"Do you have any idea what she's been through?" Solo yelled, waving in the direction of Kenobi's hut.

Calrissian looked Solo in the eye and said, "Yes."

"She's _pregnant_!"

"I tried to stop you landing! Had you fired on hoping you'd turn around and leave!"

Solo's face became a grimace; he couldn't remember arriving on Bespin.

[We had no hyperdrive…] Chewbacca growled in Solo's defence.

Calrissian looked at the Wookiee and begged, "Tell me what I could have done differently!" He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly. "I didn't know you were coming; the Empire arrived and just took over. It was all I could do to keep the populace safe…" He dabbed at his nose and winced.

Without another word, Solo turned and left the skiff; stalked away across the sand. Calrissian shot a look at Chewbacca and muttered sarcastically, "Thanks for your help, Chewie." Chewbacca refused to respond; would have followed his friend except the little princess had joined Solo near the hut, and they'd walked off together.

Calrissian climbed painfully off the skiff and headed for the hut, muttering about getting cleaned up.

xxxxxxx

"Feel better?" Luke asked from the doorway of Kenobi's hut, as Solo passed him to rejoin Leia.

Solo took in his disapproval, and nodded self-righteously, "I do, yeah!"

"Good." Leia agreed, throwing Luke a defiant look, taking Solo's hand and leading him away from Luke. Solo had expected a lecture from her, not encouragement, and Leia looked vaguely embarrassed as she admitted, "I've wanted to do that since Bespin."

Solo glanced back at Calrissian who was mopping at the blood on his face as he headed towards the hut, then fondly at Leia. From his point of view, her desire was completely reasonable. He watched Luke greet Calrissian and guide him inside the hut, then pulled her into a hug. She had _killed_ Jabba. And she was pregnant.

"So what do we do now?" he asked gently, moving her to arms length so he could see her face.

"I don't know, Han. I honestly don't know," she said, then amended, "Yes, I do. I'm going to have to spend time working with Luke's Jedi Master, learning to use the Force."

Solo wanted to say: _Luke has a Jedi Master? Where'd he dig one of those up? Weren't they all killed?_ Instead he queried the obsession she'd had for as long as he'd known her, "What about the Rebellion?"

Leia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "There was Imperial Surveillance on Bespin. We were filmed." Her eyes met his. "You and I."

Solo felt horror blossom in his gut, and frowned as her meaning sank in. "I didn't check for bugs?"

Leia smiled wanly, and assured him, "Oh, you did. They were one step ahead of us the whole way."

Solo wiped a hand across his face wondering exactly what the Imperials had filmed and if he could have messed Leia's life up any more. Then she told him about her meeting with Mon Mothma, and how the Rebel Leader had attempted to _shame_ her with the surveillance material, and Solo felt a deep-seated rage at the Alliance's Supreme Commander.

When Leia admitted she had resigned from the Alliance because of it, Solo almost cheered. He wanted to. Remembered sitting in the _Falcon_ cockpit with her in his lap…wishing he could just run away with her. But Solo knew what the Rebellion meant to her.

"I'm sorry," he said. It was not enough. Not by a longshot. Not for what Leia had been forced to go through thanks to his unbelievably bad decision to take them to Bespin. But it was all he had to give her.

xxxxxxx

"Luke?"

Luke looked up from the old fashioned book he was reading by the light of a small luma. Solo was sitting on the opposite bench, Leia curled up against him, asleep. Chewie was at the helm, Calrissian catching a couple of hours of sleep nearby. Overhead the sky was brilliant with stars.

"I just wanted to say thanks," Solo said, quietly. "Thanks for coming after me."

Luke closed the book and regarded his friend. "You almost sound surprised," he teased.

One side of Solo's mouth quirked up, and he admitted, "Maybe I am."

"I'm hurt!" Luke scolded, and Solo couldn't help smiling.

"You know what I mean," he said. "There ain't a lot of people who'd…well…not in my experience."

"I understand," Luke said.

Solo's expression became serious. "And for keeping Leia safe," he said, "I can never thank you enough." Solo considered for a moment then added, "I know how you've felt about her, and-"

Luke cut him off, "She's my _sister_ , Han." Solo looked askance at him, and he said, "We found out on Coruscant. I guessed she hadn't told you yet."

"You mean _actual_ sister?" Luke nodded, and Solo regarded him with bewilderment. "You're a _Prince?_ "

Luke couldn't help chuckling at the suggestion, and then clarified, "No. We were deliberately hidden. I was sent here, to my aunt and uncle. Leia grew up on Alderaan."

Solo considered this briefly, then said wryly, "Tough break, kid!" This made Luke laugh again.

"Couple of years ago I'd have agreed with you," he admitted. "But, in hindsight, I think I got the freer childhood."

Solo glanced at Leia, the Princess who'd become a Senator at 16, then rested his cheek against the top of her head for a moment and nodded, "I'd say you were right." He looked back at Luke and said seriously, "Now tell me _why_."

Luke sighed. "Remember me telling you my father was a Jedi?"

Solo nodded. "Murdered by Vader."

"That's what Ben Kenobi told me, yes."

Solo shook his head and sneered sarcastically, "Let me guess, the old wizard _lied_?"

Luke wished he could tell the Corellian he was wrong, but Kenobi's rewrite of Skywalker history had been eating away at him for weeks. "My - _our_ father's name was Anakin Skywalker…and when he turned to the Dark Side he…he _became_ Darth Vader."

Solo became very still, his expression vaguely hostile, and growled, "That's not funny, Luke."

"No, it isn't," Luke agreed. "But it explains why we were hidden. Vader knew about me; I was nearly two when he turned and…" Luke sighed, and decided telling Solo about Vader saving his toddler son's life would only confuse things. "Our mother had to give me away, to hide me from Vader and the Emperor, but she was only just pregnant with Leia when our father turned. So he wouldn't find out about his daughter, our mother married Bail Organa and everyone assumed Leia was his."

Solo was shaking his head, and Luke empathised with the Corellian's automatic need to deny the whole mess. Finally Solo asked defensively, "How do you know Leia _isn't_ Organa's?"

"The Emperor," Luke replied, understanding Han was grasping at straws for Leia's sake. "And Vader did all the genetic testing while we were prisoners. Yoda confirmed it."

"Yoda?"

"The Jedi Master I found on Dagobah."

Solo frowned, then remembered, "You were mumbling about a Yoda when I found you on Hoth. After the wampa…" Luke nodded. "And now Leia wants to train with him?"

"Encourage her, Han," Luke said, with feeling. "She _needs_ to!"

"And Palpatine knew Leia was pregnant?"

"He knew; wants your daughter for…himself."

Solo's eyebrows shot up, "Daught- it's a _girl_?"

"I'm sorry!" Luke winced, apologising frantically for his accidental revelation. "I thought Leia had told you… I'm really sorry, Han."

Solo shook his head to say it didn't matter, then buried his nose against Leia's head and squeezed his eyes shut. A moment later he lifted his head and looked towards the front of the skiff; to the horizon. Luke could see there were tears in his eyes.

After a little while, Solo smiled awkwardly at Luke and said, "Who'd've thought? A Princess and a guy like me…?"

Luke smiled.

xxxxxxx

Their arrival in Mos Eisley went completely unnoticed without any help from Luke. Their time with Jabba, and days on the edge of the Dune Sea had resulted in them all looking like Tatooine residents, and the demise of the Hutt had sent ripples of chaos through the desert city that had the Imperials out in force trying to contain random firefights. Far too many distractions to pay them any notice as they sailed into the docking bay that housed the _Millennium_ _Falcon_.

Looking at his ship as they approached, Solo felt an overwhelming sense of relief and homecoming. He felt Leia take his hand.

"Welcome home, Captain," she said, softly.

 _Fin._

To be continued in… " _A Princess and a guy like him_."

 _Author's Note: For what it's worth, I just want to add here that my reference to 'homecoming' was written 10yrs ago! Not because of the trailer for SW7. My own fault for not finishing this fic sooner, I guess. – Leela._

\- 7 -


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